Make You Feel My Love
by Athzhilar
Summary: Kara Zanders thinks all relationships are meant to end until she moves to La Push. She meets Emily and Kim, and they introduce her to a whole group of tall, dark, and handsome men...but only one seems to stand out to her: the man with the glowing russet skin and deep brown eyes. Will Kara's outlook on relationships change because of this hauntingly beautiful stranger? Jacob/OC
1. Chapter 1: Happy Ending

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **Okay, so I know the Twilight phase (omg so punny because wolves phase...no? okay then) has passed, but I've recently gotten back into it again and I decided to write a story! I really love the wolf pack, so I decided to do a Jacob/OC. I would love to do a Paul/OC and a Seth/OC in the future, but I'm gonna start off with Jake because he was (obviously) the most developed character out of the wolves and he has a lot of teenage angst and anger that I want to work with. I hope you and enjoy and please leave me a review!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

Being a hopeless romantic and believing in love are two very different things. Every since I was a young girl, it seems as though I've seen countless relationships fall apart. From friendships to romances, it seems like there is an inevitable end to every kind of love. I thought wrong.

With my dad being a doctor, we moved around a lot for some reason until we finally settled down in a small town in Washington called La Push. My dad's job was actually in the neighboring town, Forks, but we got a deal on the house in La Push and it was a close enough commute from the house to the Forks Hospital that it was worth the extra bit of time. My dad didn't mind anyways because like me, he liked having a bit of alone time in the mornings where he could just listen to music and enjoy life a bit.

Before Washington, I had spent the bulk of my life in New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, with a few other places thrown in the mix, but my family had generally stayed in the Northeast. Washington wasn't much of a change from that, but it was a change nonetheless. I wasn't too happy about the move considering we had stayed in Massachusetts for the past 3 years and I was hoping that would be our forever home, but I had no choice but to adapt to my new and unfamiliar surroundings. I was finally starting to make a life for myself there only to be ripped away, but like I said, everything ends. Sure, I had a few friends from MA, but since the summer had started, the number of messages and replies I received from my so-called friends seemed to be rapidly dwindling down to zero...not that I particularly minded.

For some reason, a part of me has always liked being alone. I like talking to people, sure, but I prefer the company of books, poetry, tv shows, and fictional characters. When I'm engrossed in a good book or show with an intricate plot line and diverse characters, I feel the most at home; I feel the most like myself. Plus, whenever I try to actually form a relationship with someone, it always ends badly. I'm not sure if it's a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of thing where I think things are going to end and they do or if it's bad luck or if it's just proof my thoughts about everything having an expiration date that are right. All the relationships I've had –not including my relationship with my mom, dad, and brother– have all either slowly fizzled out or abruptly ended.

I made my way down to the kitchen when a voice greeted me, "finally decided to stop being a hermit then, Kara?"

I turned and gave a small smile to my mom and did the best to not show my annoyance towards her for that statement. "Nah, I'm just here to get food. Still a hermit though! I think I got it from dad's side of the family though, so you can blame it on all the Zanders!" I gave my mom a sarcastic thumbs up and she just laughed my joke off and told me to eat well and get some sleep because apparently I had a big day tomorrow.

I looked at her suspiciously. "What do you mean, a big day?"

She just smirked back at me and left without answering the question.

Well, great. Now my mind is running wild with ideas of my mother plotting my death or marrying me off to the next eligible bachelor or something…death would be preferred.

We had been in La Push for 2 weeks now, but most of that time was spent unpacking furniture and decorating my room. I had finished my room within the first week, but I had helped my mom and dad finish their room as well as the living room and the kitchen. Looking around, I took in the glory of my room. It wasn't much, but it was my safe haven of sorts. I had put up a few Star Wars and comic book related posters and I did have my handy dandy bookcase with my oh-so-precious books (yay reading!), so it was somewhat decorated, but other than that, the only pieces of furniture were my bed and a desk. My walls reminded me a bit of leaves during the fall because they were brown but they seemed to have a hint of yellow and green that really made the room glow. It's a simple colour, but I had a brown sugar candle burning so the mix of sight and smell seemed to brighten it up a bit as well. My room seemed to be one of the only rooms on the second story of the house and even though it wasn't particularly spacious, the balcony that led outside made up for that. If you looked outside, you could see the beach a couple miles away so watching the sunset and the moon had become part of my routine here in La Push. I also put a comfortable bench on the balcony so I could have a place to read, taking breaks to enjoy the scenery as I did so.

It was around 11:00pm, so I looked outside and noticed the moon would be full within the next few days, but it was beautiful nonetheless. The night sky was dark so the only thing giving off light was the moon and it seemed to make the beach and everything outside glow. I decided that since the weather was nice outside, I'd lock my balcony, but leave the windows slightly open to let some of that fresh cool air in. I preferred the room to be cold when I slept, but I liked to bundle up with blankets and my stuffed narwhal…and yes, I have a stuffed narwhal because I'm cool like that. Narwhals are the best.

I lied down in bed and wrapped the sheets around me and I thought about what awaited me in this new start of mine. Would I make a friend? A boyfriend? It was all a mystery to me, but that mystery seemed to excite me. New possibilities could be a good thing, right? Exploring La Push was definitely something I was looking forward to because I knew there were a few trails that I had marked down somewhere. Plus, I didn't really leave anything behind in Massachusetts other than my beloved Evergreen tree that I used to read under, but in La Push, I had a great view of the beach, so I suppose it acted as a trade of sorts rather than a loss of something. I missed my tree but I gained a beautiful piece of scenery, plus, I could always personally go down to the beach and read or just enjoy it from my balcony. With these thoughts in my head, I drifted asleep noticing that it was already 2am. Where did the time go by?

I woke up with a start somewhat dreading today. I remembered my mom making that ominous comment about today being a big day, but as I thought more about it, I realized what would probably happen. Since I had finally finished unpacking, I knew my parents were anxious about me making friends. They never really understood the fact that I didn't feel a desire to make friends, but I didn't like to upset them so I tried. Key word: tried. I knew that today I didn't have an excuse as to why I couldn't go out to get groceries for them or go with them to say hello to the neighbors, because alas! there was no busy work left for me to do and nothing I could say to avoid social interaction. I suppose that's how I found myself awkwardly sitting in my car wondering where the heck the grocery store was.

"Curse you, mom." I let out a groan and banged my head on the steering wheel. I have absolutely no sense of direction so if I were to ever get lost without my cell phone or cell connection, I'd probably be dead within the hour and end up somewhere in a ditch or at the bottom of a cliff. However, I did have my cell phone and there was connection, so I suppose I wasn't going to die today due to my inability to follow directions, but that didn't mean that I wanted to go out in public where there were…people. I quickly looked up the address of the closest grocery store and put it into my GPS, so I could get the groceries and get the hell out as fast as I could. Maybe I'm being dramatic about this whole meeting people thing, but I could do that when school started if I wanted to. For now, I just wanted to enjoy the rest of my summer and get familiar with my surroundings. Was that too much to ask? I didn't think so. Lost in my trail of thought, I realized I didn't even start the car. Whoops…but I do really hope that there is a self-checkout at the store even though I'm not too sure about that considering it is a small town and well…people did need jobs.

The GPS said it was only a five minute drive, so if I wanted to, I could have walked, but I decided driving would be better due to the unpredictable nature of rain here in La Push and the fact that if I walked, I'd probably end up getting distracted and wandering into the forest. I knew if I walked, I'd probably be exploring for hours only to have my phone die on me leaving me for dead and having no way to get back home. I was almost to the grocery store when I could have sworn I saw an animal in the woods. Now, I know that seems ridiculous because of course there are going to be animals in the woods, but this seemed different. Something seemed off. I was only driving about 5 mph because I wasn't sure what turn to take into the grocery store, yet the animal went by in a blur and from what I saw, I wasn't so sure it was just one animal either. It seemed to be chasing something or running with something. What? I wasn't sure.

A loud voice started yelling at me. "Lady! Watch where the hell you're going! Geez."

I slammed down on my breaks and turned my eyes so I could see what was happening in front of me. There was a very built man with warm brown skin dressed in cut off shorts and a sleeveless shirt feet in front of me about to cross the road. Damn, I would have hit him because I was daydreaming. Great, now I caught his attention. Just my luck.

I rolled down my window and yelled back a sincere apology, "I'm so sorry. I thought I saw an animal in the woods and freaked out for a bit. I'll keep my eyes on the road. I promise not to run anyone over anymore."

The man seemed to stiffen at my words but gave me a forced laugh and a smile at my joke and made his way into the woods? Well then. That's not weird at all…and I just noticed he wasn't wearing shoes. How odd, but at least I know I'm not the craziest one here.

I pulled into the parking lot and found a spot close to the front. I always tried my best because if I didn't find a close spot, I would forget where I parked and wander around aimlessly looking for my spot after getting groceries and I know I didn't need to make a fool of myself in front of more people, especially not any more tall, dark, and handsome men.

I got out of my car and grabbed a cart before walking into the store. My mom had given me a long grocery list because she hadn't gotten some basic spices and whatnot for the kitchen and my dad handed me an additional list for things he wanted like caffeinated drinks and small snack packs because when he worked, he needed more fuel to get him through his day. I made my way around the store and observed people. It seemed like they all knew each other. I knew it was a small town, but I didn't really stop to think just how small it was. I was in aisle 8 when I heart two girls maybe a bit older than me talking about…me?

A soft voice quietly whispered, "I heard a new family moved in a while ago. They apparently have a daughter but I haven't seen her around."

The other girl, or rather, woman's voice warmly responded, "I'm sure she's just getting used to La Push. It can't be easy moving, especially not in the middle of high school. I heard from one of the teachers at the High School that she'll be a Junior so at least she'll have a couple of years to make some friends. Maybe I'll have some of the pack welcome her today. I'm sure Seth will be more than happy to do that. And you and me of course, Kim."

The soft-spoken girl excitedly hushed back, "That would be great! Then, we'd finally have another girl to talk to in that sea of testosterone!"

Both girls laughed and continued to talk, but I decided to not push my luck by listening to them anymore and moved on to the next aisle so I could finish buying my groceries. My heart warmed at the thought of them being kind enough to think of welcoming me. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all.

New place, new memories, new friends, new attitudes, right? All relationships may have an end, but maybe, just maybe, I can form some relationships with a _happy_ ending.


	2. Chapter 2: What Just Happened?

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **Okay, so I hope you guys like this chapter! I know it drags on a bit, but I'm really trying to get as much detail as I can in here. This chapter gives you a little taste of Jake, but the next chapter will have much more of him as well as some interaction between him and Kara...and Bella is soon to come in like a wrecking ball and create some drama as well! I hope you and enjoy and please leave me a review!**

 **Also, shoutout to inuyashademons14 for my first review and ButterflyBookworm for messaging me about this story! Thank you!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

After eavesdropping on a conversation, I had a quick mishap in the grocery store in which I accidentally knocked down a display of stacked cans, but I hightailed it out of there and I'm back in the comfort of my own home again! I already unpacked all the groceries and put everything in the fridge so now I just have to figure out what to do…Netflix it is!

I decided to binge watch _Stranger Things_ (again) and as I was so very intensely watching Eleven being a boss ass bitch and walking out of the store with her Eggo waffles, I heard the doorbell ringing. I mumbled an, "Oh, shit." For one thing, my dad was at work and my mom was apparently out with a friend she met (even my mother is more social than I am), and secondly, I was currently in my bed which was covered, and I mean _covered_ , in snacks of all and every variety. You name it and it was probably partially in my stomach and partially on my bed. Basically, if it was someone that I had to entertain for a while, they definitely weren't coming into my room only to run for the hills after seeing the chaotic mess that is currently my room.

Ding, Dong!

I was yet again broken from my thoughts when I realized that whoever was at the door was still there. Well, I guess it must be somewhat important if they haven't left yet then. I dusted off my shirt and quickly glanced at my appearance in my mirror and decided I looked somewhere between a highly functioning insomniac (because of the bags under my eyes) to a psychotic cat lady (with my cat sweater). Eh, good enough. I made my way down the stairs and quickly looked through the peephole. Two girls were standing there. They were both beautiful and were around the same age and height, but the girl on the left seemed more mature. She had deep brown eyes, full lips, and what appeared to be waist-length hair, but she had faded scars running down the right side of her face down to her neck. For some reason, these scars didn't affect her beauty at all especially because she had a kind smile on her face. The girl on the right seemed more youthful in the sense that she seemed like she hadn't gone through the same hardships as the girl on the left. She was also beautiful but in a more innocent way, with her doe-eyes and her mid-length hair.

They were quietly whispering and I tried to listen to what they were saying as I waited behind the door.

The girl on the left softly asked, "do you think anyone's home right now? Maybe we should just come back tomorrow, Kim."

The girl on the right didn't seem to lose faith in the fact that someone was home and replied, "There's a car out front, so someone is probably home, Em. Maybe they're just in the shower or something. Why don't we try ringing the doorbell one more time and if nobody answers, then we can come back tomorrow!"

The girl on the left smiled a bit and simply said, "okay."

I recognized their voices as the same girls from the grocery store who said they wanted to welcome me. I could feel my heart swell. I hadn't assumed that they would welcome me so soon. I snapped out of my daze and just as the girl, who I'm assuming was "Kim," was about to ring the doorbell, I opened the door. _It's now or never._

Now I got a better look at them. I thought they were the same height, but the girl on the left, "Em," was a bit shorter by an inch or so. They were both beautiful with their tanned skin and dark hair and I actually found myself having to look up at them with my 5'3" frame.

I quickly gathered up the courage to greet them and smiled. "Hi! May I help you girls?"

Emily responded first. "Hi! My friend Kim and I just wanted to welcome you to La Push." Kim noticed my shirt and nudged emily and they shared a mischievous smile. "We both live about a block away, but we wanted to say hello anyways. We haven't had someone new in forever!"

Kim enthusiastically added to that. "It's not every day we get another girl here! It seems like La Push is too male dominated and the testosterone was getting too much to take!" She let out a quick laugh and I joined in. I knew exactly how it felt to not have many female friends…or friends at all, but they didn't need to know that part.

The girls seemed nice enough and there weren't any warning signs that they were potential serial killers or had any psychopathic tendencies, so I took a chance and introduced myself. "Well, I'm glad that my addition of estrogen can help even out the testosterone playing field in this neighborhood! My name is Kara, by the way."

They both introduced themselves as Kim and Emily and I pretended like I didn't already know that and asked them if they'd like to come in and have some water or a snack. This time, Kim was the first to speak. She quickly said, "Actually, we have some errands to run, but the main reason we came here was to ask you if you wanted to come down to a bonfire on the beach tonight."

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that they couldn't hang out right now because while I do like being alone, I was craving for some interaction (which was so out of character for me), but I suppose tonight would have to do. I tried to muster up enough enthusiasm and heartily said, "Sure, that would be great! What time should I meet you guys down there?"

Kim looked at her watch and told me to be there around six when Emily suddenly spoke up. I'm not sure if she noticed my crestfallen expression after they had told me they were busy now or if she was just being nice, but she made me an offer. "Actually, Kara, the only reason we have to go now is to prepare food for the bonfire. Like Kim mentioned before, we have too many boys here in La Push and they all tend to have voracious appetites, so we have to cook food hours before, not that I mind." I laughed at that because I couldn't imagine myself slaving away at the stove and actually liking it, especially if I was cooking huge amounts of food for someone other than myself. I was selfish when it came to food and proud of it. Emily continued, "sometimes I get a few of the younger boys to help, but if you wanted, you could help us and we could all walk to the bonfire together. It's up to you, of course!"

I felt myself smiling. Goodness gracious, I think this is the most I've ever wanted to be social. I happily accepted her offer. "I just have to change really quickly and lock up the house, but I'll be down in a minute or two!" True to my word, I got ready in record time: I swiped some mascara on my eyelashes, put some lip balm on, and grabbed my bag and put my phone and wallet in it. My brows were already done because I'd never go out anywhere without them done (I'm a bit…a lot brow obsessed), so now I felt like I was actually somewhat presentable and more in the somewhat-crazy-but manageable range rather than the psycho-lunatic range I had previously been in. I ran downstairs, put my converse on, locked the door, and smiled up at Emily and Kim. "I'm ready!" They smiled back at me and complimented my shirt and I had a feeling there was some sort of inside joke going on, but I didn't question it. I was ready and very excited to get to know them better, but there was also a lingering feeling in the back of my mind that something else was going to happen tonight. I ignored it and fell into pace with Emily and Kim as we walked to Emily's house.

I learned that Emily was actually 23 and that she was engaged to her fiancé, Sam. She taught weaving and about the Quileute and Makah culture at La Push High School and at the community college, she loved cooking (duh), and she was sort of like a caretaker for many of the boys on the reservation. I found it odd yet endearing that she would so freely open up her house to so many people and help them out. From Kim, I learned that she had fallen in love with a boy named Jared. She had a crush on him for the longest time and he finally noticed her and wham, bam, thank you ma'm, they got together. She was 18 and she was a Senior along with Jared at La Push High.

In return, I told them a little bit about my background. My dad is actually half Quileute and he had lived in La Push for a bit during his youth, but he ended up moving to New Jersey where he spent most of his childhood. My mom is actually from India and she met my dad when she came to the U.S. at the age of 21. She was a singer so she was hoping to start teaching up classes here again and it's something we've always done together. She sang classical Indian music but she taught both Indian and Western music, which I thought was pretty cool. Because of my parents, I had tan skin, but it seemed lighter than Emily and Kim's copper toned skin. I fit in but I didn't because I was tan and I had dark hair and darker eyes, but I feel like I looked more Indian than Native American. Not that that was a bad thing at all, but one thing I wouldn't have minded getting from my dad's Quileute genes was height, but alas! I had no such luck.

Before I realized it, we were standing outside of Emily's house. She shared it with her fiancé of course, but they were hoping to expand upon it more after the wedding which was to take place in December. It was quant house and it seemed almost embedded in the forest. It was a bit secluded, but I liked it. It had a cabin feel to it but it seemed very warm and welcoming. As I went in, I noticed how much space there was in the backyard and how roomy the house was. It appeared smaller on the outside than it actually was.

Time seemed to fly by as we cooked and before I knew it, it was already 5:30pm. Almost time for the bonfire. It took us about 4 hours, but we made huge servings of macaroni and cheese, cucumber sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers (and a few veggie burgers for me), brownies, cookies, and a few fresh homemade pizzas. We had decided to get there a bit early to set up the food because Emily and Kim said that if we didn't then we wouldn't get any food to ourselves and we would probably get trampled over by a bunch of starving gigantic boys. Speaking of which, Emily and Kim had given me a quick run down on all of the guys, and I tried to take in as much information as I could but I embarrassingly ended up typing up a quick list on my phone when they weren't looking. Apparently, they were all very tall and built, but I was unsure as to how big exactly they were. I was hoping that I could use the list as a reference to get to know the guys and know who was who, but I was in for a shock.

We loaded the car and when we got to the bonfire, I looked into the distance and saw gigantic, and I mean _gigantic_ , men. I don't know what was in the water here in La Push, but I think the shortest one was probably still at over 6 feet, which was already almost a foot taller than me! I could feel my hands start to get clammy and my heart start to race. I was already nervous in front of Emily and Kim and now I had to deal with a group of really intimidating people. I was Jack and they were the giants and I was preparing to be trampled on, chewed up, and spit out.

They probably noticed the dread and fear rolling off of me in waves and the fact that I looked about ready to either pass out or run for the hills, so they tried to give me some words of encouragement. Kim said something along the lines of, "don't worry. I know he can be intimidating at first, but he's really just a big teddy bear." She was already staring at who I assumed was Jared and the fact that she only said he was a big teddy bear and didn't mention any of the other huge people lurking around the bonfire worried me. She was probably too caught up in Jared, but I was still freaking out.

Emily rolled her eyes a bit at Kim and told me in a very calm and motherly voice, "They're all just big teddy bears. Actually, you might even say that they look like wolves, but they're really just a bunch of playful puppies with more bark than bite." She let out a chuckle and her and Kim shared a look, but I was too busy freaking myself out to pay them any attention. Oh no…one of the giants was making their way towards us now. As he approached us and got closer and closer, I noticed that although he seemed awfully tall and big, he had a younger face. He had a big goofy smile on and automatically, I knew that this was Seth. Emily had told me that Seth was her cousin who was going to be a Freshman this year. He had an older sister, Leah, but she had already graduated. From what she told me about Seth, he seemed like a talkative guy, but the friendliest out of the bunch nonetheless.

Seth smiled at Emily and Kim and then he finally noticed me. He looked on curiously and asked, "Hey, Em! Hey, Kim! Who's this with you? I haven't seen her around before!"

Before Emily or Kim could respond, I decided to grow some balls and take charge. "Hi, I'm Kara. I just moved to La Push a few weeks ago. Nice to meet you." I stuck my hand out to shake and his large hands pulled me into a hug. I was shocked because of the intense heat that surrounded me and the fact that I had never met someone as friendly as Seth, but I ended up laughing and I relaxed into the hug. He was just too damn cute to resist.

After a few seconds, he let go of me and gave me a toothy grin. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist. Nice shirt, by the way"

I waved him off, and cheekily said. "Don't worry, it happens a lot. I just have that effect on people. And as for the shirt, everyone seems to be saying that today, but I'm sensing some underlying humour that I just don't get."

Seth coyly smiled and told me to "not worry about it," whatever that meant. Oh, well. They're all just jealous of my awesome cat sweater.

Seth, Emily, and Kim all talked to me until Emily and Kim started unloading the food to set out on the empty tables that were near the bonfire. I was going to help, but they _insisted_ that I go with Seth so he could show me around and introduce me to everyone. Plus, Jared and Sam came over to help them unload so I said a quick hello and made my way back to where Seth was waiting for me.

"I'm ready to be thrown to the sharks now, Seth." I gave him a sarcastic smile.

"Nahh, don't be so nervous. I'm definitely the coolest one here, but I'm sure all the guys will like you! Don't worry about Paul and Leah though. They're always grumpy so don't take offense if they seem angry. It's not you, it's just how they are." He flashed me grin and I could see the smile reaching his eyes.

Since Jared and Sam were helping Emily and Kim unload the food, Seth decided to introduce me to Brady and Collin first. They were a bit hard to tell apart and they seemed like twins but they were both just harmless little shits. In a good way, of course…if that's even a thing. Basically, they were just typical perverted teenage boys, but still quite humourous and likable. Then, Seth introduced me to Quil but the conversation didn't last too long because Quil ended up running after little Claire as she started to get too close to the ocean. I thought it was cute how he took care of her and I knew I'd get plenty of time to talk to him later because Quil was one of the three boys who would be a Junior this year along with me. Next, I met Embry (who would also be Junior). He was quite attractive with the dimple in his chin and he was definitely one of the taller boys out of the group. He flirted with me a bit and I ended up jokingly flirting back but eventually it turned into a game of him giving me his best lines and me shutting him down. Seth started laughing so hard, he had tears coming out of his eyes. It went a little bit like this:

Embry: "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

Me: "No, but I did scrape my knees a couple times crawling up from hell."

Embry: I'm a photographer. I've been looking for a face like yours to be my muse for so long.

Me: What a coincidence! I'm a plastic surgeon. I've been looking for a face like yours to fix for so long.

Embry: If I could see you naked, I'd die happy.

Me: If I saw you naked, I'd probably die laughing.

After that last zinger, we decided to give poor Seth a break so he could actually breathe. Seth said he would introduce me to Paul and Leah later so we moved on to the elders before the stories started. I said a quick hello to Old Quil and exchanged some pleasantries with him, but I spent more time talking to Billy Black. He insisted on me calling him Billy, more so when I learned that he had been friends with my dad back when my dad lived in La Push. I also ended up asking him questions about different Quileute legends that I wouldn't hear about tonight. He didn't want to give too much away about tonight legends so we talked about some other ones. We were in the middle of talking about the Thunderbird, when Billy looked behind me and let out a laugh. "Jacob! You finally decided to grace us with your presence then, son?"

I turned around and looked at who he was referring to. I knew I was forgetting about one of the boys. Jacob, whom I'm assuming is his son, was walking towards us. He was the third boy that was going to be joining me as a Junior once school started back up again. I remembered Seth saying that he was very close with Embry and Quil, and I could tell Seth really looked up to him. I stepped out of Jacob's way but didn't fail to admire him as he greeted his father. He let out a deep chuckle, "sure, sure. I only came for the food." His russet skin glistened in the moonlight and he was definitely the tallest one out of the sea of people looming over me. He must have been at least 6'7" if not taller. He didn't notice me, probably because I wasn't even close to being within his range of vision, but Billy seemed to remember I was there and beckoned me closer. I walked next to Billy as he introduced me to Jacob. "Son, this is Kara. She just moved to La Push a few weeks ago. I actually used to know her father back when we were kids."

Jacob turned to look at me and when he did, I had to crane my neck up to see him. The fire was lit behind him, so his skin had an orange glow to it and as my eyes traveled upwards towards his face, I couldn't help but notice how defined his muscles were. His jaw was sharp and his hair was short, but thick. All of this was nothing compared to his eyes. I looked into his eyes as he looked into mine, and he sucked in a deep breath; I did the same. I was staring into molten chocolatey goodness. His eyes were the colour of earth kissed by spring rains. I could see that there were promises of happiness and love in them, but I could also see that he had had his fair share of heartbreak and depression. I saw how strong he was and how he tried so hard to hide his feelings from the rest of the world. I could vaguely hear a few of the guys let out an "oh, shit," or a "not him too," or something along those lines, but I was too lost in his eyes to care.

Before I could say anything, he snapped out of the daze we were both in and started shaking. Sam and Paul, the biggest of the guys (after Jacob, of course), ended up running towards me and Jacob, and led him away. He ripped away from them and ran off on his own into the nearby woods. Then, Sam and Paul came back to bring me closer to the bonfire and everyone acted like nothing had happened. They were _shitting_ me, right? "Um, _hello?_ Is anyone going to tell me what just happened?" I was met with silence and that made me angry, but there was nothing I could do right now so I decided to just wait it out…too bad I'm not a very patient person.

Everyone, including Billy and Old Quil, tried to distract me, but I couldn't get those brown eyes out of my mind. When I opened my eyes, my surroundings reminded me of the earthy tone they held and the fire reminded me of the flecks of gold in his eyes, and when I closed my eyes, his eyes stared back at me. I wasn't sure why I was so affected by this stranger who hadn't even said a word to me, but I was knocked out of my daze yet again as I heard a wolf howling at the moon. It sounded hurt and lonely and from what I knew of wolves, they only howled to signal their location to the rest of their pack. For some reason, I found myself hoping that the wolf was okay, but my thoughts were a mess. Billy started telling the stories and while I half-payed attention, what I was really thinking about was what the _hell_ had happened and why I was feeling like a complete and total stranger felt _so familiar_ to me.


	3. Chapter 3: You Have a Wild Imagination

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **Yay! A new chapter! For future references, I'll try my very best to post a new chapter every week, but I might even post 2-3 a week. Definitely once a week though unless something urgent comes up. This one is even longer than the last, but you get to see more of Jacob and there's more dialogue! I'm slowly introducing him into the story because I want to take things slow, but if you guys feel like it's too slow, I can speed things up a bit. I just like my details haha. The next chapter will be fully Kara and Jacob, so hopefully it's worth the wait. I hope you and enjoy and please leave me a review!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

After Billy was done, I let the information sink in for a bit. I was still silently fuming about the events that had proceeded Billy's stories, but I tried not to dwell on it too much…or rather, I tried not to dwell on _him_ and his damn eyes too much. The way Billy talked about the legends with such emotion and truth in his words made my heart race. It's like Taha Aki had the world on his shoulder but at the same time, he had a purpose in life. Sometimes I just end up lying in bed at night wondering why I'm here. I feel like I'm just a filler…a waste of space or something of that sort. I'm not special. I have no amazing talents or super intelligence that could change a single person's day, much less the world, but hearing those stories gave me hope for some reason. Did I have any morphing powers? No…but that didn't mean that I couldn't help people in other ways.

The stories just struck me to my core and left me feeling optimistic for the future for some unknown reason. Needless to say, I didn't meet Leah or Paul though. As soon as the legends were over, Emily and Kim herded me away from the group and insisted I get home because it was apparently "too late." Too late, my ass! It was only 9:00pm for goodness sake! But, not being able to say no to their stupidly nice faces, we all went back to Emily's and I drove back to my humble abode from there.

I came home and bid my parents goodnight before going upstairs and taking a nice hot shower. However, as soon as I did, I immediately turned the water cold because the feeling of warmth water was too familiar. It made me think of _him_ and I was starting to feel even more of a psycho for having my thoughts filled by this random stranger…although in my defense, he was a _hot_ stranger, both literally and figuratively. I jumped out of the shower, put some pajamas on, and went directly to my computer. I decided that I needed a good distraction so I went to Netflix and decided to re-watch _Legends of Tomorrow._ I was watching intently but somewhere around episode 3, I drifted asleep surrounded by the sounds of the dialogue in the background.

 _I opened my eyes and I was sprawled out on a bed of some sort in a dimly lit room. I looked around me and nothing was familiar. In fact, everything seemed…ancient. Maybe I've finally gone full crazy. I got up and walked around the room which seemed to extend on forever but I saw a mirror so of course I did the logical thing and walked up to it. What I saw shocked me. I was wearing a plain yet beautiful robe and my eyes were adorned with beautiful winged eyeliner and blue eyeshadow. I looked regal but there was a distinctive Egyptian aura to my look. I heard a door opening and whipped myself out of my daze and turned around and lo and behold! There he stood. Jacob Black…a shirtless Jacob Black. What was he even doing here?_

 _I pried my eyes away from his torso and somewhat breathlessly said, "What are you doing here, Jacob? Hell, do you know where we are right now because I'm completely and totally lost."_

 _He let out a throaty chuckle. "You have a wild imagination, Kara."_

 _I was officially even more confused than I was before. "Okay…Still doesn't explain where we are and why I'm dressed up. Why are you looking at me like that too? Don't you want to get out of here and find out what's going on?_

 _He either ignored my words or genuinely didn't hear me because for some unknown reason, he advanced towards me and took my face in his hands. He leaned down and when he was mere centimeters away from my face, he whispered,"I love you," and he placed his lips upon mine._

I woke up with a start and I made sure I wasn't in some sort of weirdly lit room and that Jacob wasn't going to randomly pop out of my closet and try to kiss me…not that I would object. I apprehensively got up and looked around. I was in my room alright, but I wanted to be cautious. Of course, me being me, as soon as I got up, I tripped. I fell face first into the floor and made out with it a bit before getting up and seeing what I had tripped on. My computer. Well that actually made sense. I remembered I fell asleep watching _Legends of Tomorrow_ and I tended to dream about the last thing I fall asleep thinking about which happened to be the love story between Chay-ara and Prince Khufu aka Hawkgirl and Hawkman, and Jacob Black (because the idiot couldn't even leave me alone in my dreams). I tried not to think of that searing hot kiss that didn't even actually happen as I got ready for my day. I decided to call Emily and Kim to see if they wanted to hang out today because for one, I needed to go shopping, but more importantly, I needed to figure out what the hell went down last night and I was willing to interrogate it out of them.

I dialed Emily's number because I forgot to get Kim's number and waited for her to pick up. I heard a faint "hello" from the other side. I adjusted the phone and started rambling on. "Hey, Emily! It's me. And by me, I mean Kara. Anyways, I was just wondering if you and Kim would want to go shopping with me today. I need to get some new weather/school appropriate clothing ASAP."

I heard her shuffling on the other end. "I think we should be free today, so that sounds fine by me."

I replied back, "Great! I don't have Kim's number, but if you could call her and ask, that would be great. I also wanted to have some girl talk about what went down yesterday with Jacob Black because that was super weird."

Emily's demeanor suddenly seemed to change because she quickly said, "Oh, you know what? I'm really sorry, Kara. I don't think I can do today. I have a lot of work to do."

Well then…that's not suspicious at all. I tried not to be put off at her oh-so-obvious excuse. "Oh, well what about Kim? Do you think you'd be able to give me her number so I can give her a ring?"

Emily sounded a bit nervous but she managed to bite out, "sorry, Kara. I don't think Kim's free either today. I actually have to go right now, but I'll call you later, okay? I'm really really sorry."

Now I was a little bit more worried than pissed off "Emily, come on. What's going on? Are you okay?"

She quickly responded with a "Yeah, I'm fine. I just really have to go."

I tried to ask her again for Kim's number. "Sorry, could you just give me Kim's number before-." I heard the dial tone. Nope, I'm back to being pissed off. I didn't know what the hell was wrong with Emily because she just did a complete 180 from when I first met her and I wasn't liking it. She was fine and she didn't start sounding nervous and jittery until I mentioned Jacob Black. Hmm…there was something odd about him, and I'm not talking about his unrealistic six pack abs or his perfect teeth and his pretty brown eyes. 1. He was really hot. I don't mean hot as in attractive…although he certainly was, but I mean hot as in temperature-wise. He either had a fever or…well, I don't know. That was part of the mystery. 2. He ran off like a madman yesterday into the woods, nonetheless. odd? check. 3. Emily basically hung up the phone on me when I mentioned him.

Odd indeed.

I thought about it. If Emily won't give me information and nobody, then who would? I could go to the source himself, but I decided to be a bit sneaky about it. I wouldn't want Jacob to know I was on to him now, would I? So I decided I'd go for the next best thing and that is exactly how I found myself smack dab in front of the Clearwater's house. It took me a while to find it but I ended up going in the directory and looking up the address and putting it in my handy dandy GPS. I still managed to get lost, but I found my way here…after an hour. I probably shouldn't have walked but what was supposed to be a mile walk ended up being 3 miles. There weren't any cars parked in the driveway so I'm assuming Sue Clearwater was probably at work or with Charlie (I heard some gossip that they had a thing), but I decided to ring the doorbell anyways. After waiting for a couple seconds, I decided to ring it again…and again…and again. I wasn't a very patient person and it appears that the person on the other side of the door wasn't either.

The door flung open with such force that it almost seemed like it would be detached from the frame and I saw a very tall and toned girl in front of me. She towered over my frame and she must have been around the 6 foot mark. I was greeted by her in an oh-so-lovely manner. "Who the hell are you?"

Didn't I tell you? Just lovely. I replied back without fear. "I'm Kara. I was at the bonfire last night, but I don't think we met. Is Seth home?"

She looked unimpressed but when I said my name, I saw a flame ignite in her eyes. "So you're the new lovesick pain in the ass. Seth isn't here. Not nice to meet you. Bye now."

Well someone was bitter…but what did she mean by lovesick. Before I could utter a word, she went to close the door and me being me, I stuck my foot out. Bad idea. I couldn't control the string of curses that left my mouth. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. What the hell? Not today, Satan. Not today! Any day but today!" I pulled my foot back as the door opened again and I looked up accusingly at Leah. "You injured me. I could sue…either that or you let me in and we have a little chat."

She stared long and hard at me before fully opening the door and making a gesture for me to come inside. She didn't look happy about it but I didn't really care about that too much. I got what I wanted…kind of. I hobbled in and asked Leah to go get some ice. After she refused, I brought up the whole suing her thing and she muttered a few curses under her breath. Something about an imp? I didn't really care but my ankle was on fire as was my mind burning with questions. I looked around the house. It was small but homey. I saw pictures of the family on the wall and noticed that Leah seemed happier, but I had heard about the death of their father, Harry, and I couldn't imagine what that would do to someone. It was odd though that Seth, the younger of the two, seemed to take in in stride while Leah, the older one, seemed to take it so much more hard. Not that that was that peculiar, but it was definitely odd how differently they both reacted. I went into the living room and sat down on a chair and thought more about the Clearwater family dynamics until I was broken out of my thoughts

Leah returned with the ice pack and she handed it to me, and by that, I mean she shoved it in my hands. She plopped herself down next to me and gave me a sarcastic look. "Now what?"

I fired back. "Now, I don't sue you…and now, you tell me what I want to know."

She looked up at me with a guarded look in her eyes. "What exactly do you want to know, Stumpy?"

Fine. She wants to play it that way? I'll play it better. "Well, I had a few questions about last night. And since my dwarf name is Stumpy, I think it would only be fitting if yours were Bitchy. You may be far from being a dwarf, but you still deserve a dwarf name, don't you think? Of course you do."

She looked at me with a fire in her eyes until she did something that seemed so out of character for her. She _laughed_.

I was dumbstruck. "What the hell? Did I break you?"

She managed to get in a word between her laughing. "You're actually not that bad. Thank goodness. He's gonna have a handful with you."

Now I was confused…which seemed to be a common occurrence with me these days. "Who's going to have a handful with me exactly?"

Her laughter died down and she muttered an, "oh shit."

I wasn't going to be denied answers again. "Well? I'm curious, so tell me what the heck you're talking about."

Her walls were back up again. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know. Plus, I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. You'll have to go to someone else for answers."

I was pissed again. Was everyone in this town Uncle Iroh? I wanted answers damnit, not riddles. "Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back, so can you please tell me what you're rattling on about?" She was just about to open her mouth and say something when we heard the door open. Leah had a relieved look on her face but I mustered up as much of a menacing tone as I could and whispered to her. "We're gonna talk about this later."

"Hey, Leah. I'm home. Sam had me on duty all night and he wanted you to take over a shift soon. I'm probably gonna head back to–oh, hey, Kara. What are you doing here?" Seth plopped himself down next to me.

I gave Leah a look to corroborate my story because I didn't want innocent little Seth to get in the middle of anything. "Oh, I was just in the neighborhood and I…fell and twisted my ankle and Leah over here heard me freaking out so she decided to help."

Seth looked quizzically at me. "Leah decided to help? The girl sitting across from us? That Leah?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Seth. I can be nice…if I want to. Plus, I couldn't leave the girl sounding like she was dying in front of our house, now could I? That wouldn't have looked too good for us. Plus, she could have sued me." She gave me a pointed look as I tried to hold in my laughter.

I didn't get any answers from Leah, but I decided that even though I said we'd talk about this later, she probably wouldn't divulge any information and I wanted information so I made a plan of where to get it next. "Hey, so I actually have to get going, but it was nice to meet you, Leah." I got up. "Nice to see you too, Seth." My ankle felt much better but I was still limping a bit so as I made my way to the door, Seth kept a steady hand around me. He was too sweet, that kid. He even asked if I wanted a ride home.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?"

"Seth, you don't have a car, remember?"

"Oh…yeah. I suppose that would have been helpful, huh?"

"Also, you can't drive."

"Oh…well, that too. I'm just worried."

"Don't be. I'll be fine! How about I send you and Leah a text when I get home. That sound good to you?"

"I suppose that'll make me feel better."

Leah chimed in. "At least we know if we don't get a text, we don't have to worry about her anymore."

Seth and I replied back in unison. "Shut up, Leah!"

After that exchange, I got Seth and Leah's number and hobbled away. As I was making my way to my next and hopefully final destination, I thought about this town. It was a fresh start, alright. I had already talked to more people than I ever had in my life. Even though Emily and Kim were acting a bit weird, they were still wonderful people. Along with them was Seth. They were all just so nice and innocent and pure. It was odd because I had seen so many corrupt and duplicitous people filled with secret intentions that this was such a change. And then there was Leah. She had anger in her eyes but I could also see pain. Her father had died and I sensed there was more to her bitter demeanor than just that, but I didn't want to push just yet. I felt like she and I had more in common because I was far from innocent. Emily and Leah and Kim all seemed to have experienced pain in more ways than one, but they still had hope in the world. I didn't and from what I saw in Leah, it didn't seem like she did either. I could never be that girl who was all happy go-lucky all the time because I knew that there were evils in this world. No one was born into evil, sure, but we all have a potential for evil in us.

Ahhh, there I go again talking about subjects that are way too deep for a 16 year old to be thinking about. I didn't realized how much time had passed until my stomach started grumbling. It was already 1:00pm and I had yet to eat. I was almost to my destination, but my house was the opposite way and it was too late to go back. I suppose food would have to wait. I decided to send Seth and Leah the text now saying I got home so they didn't worry, but I kept walking and tried not to contemplate the existence of life until I finally reached my final destination. When Seth interrupted the little chat between Leah and me, I decided that there was really only one way to get information about Jacob. Go to the source himself.

So, yet again, I found myself standing in front of a house but this time, it was the Black house. Ironically enough, the wood did have black tints to it, which I found funny, but this was not the time for games. I was hoping Billy wouldn't be home but at the same time, maybe if he was, I wouldn't have to worry about the 10% chance that Jacob would murder me and bury my body in the woods. Oh, well. I put my imaginary detective cap on, rung the doorbell, and awaited my destiny…I'm so dramatic sometimes.

I looked around and noticed there weren't any cars but there was a motorcycle parked out front. Since Billy was in a wheelchair, I was fairly certain it wasn't his, so Jacob had to be home. Well, moment of truth time. I was about to ring the doorbell again, when the door flung open and I was greeted so very nicely for the second time today. Without even bothering to look at who was there, he grumpily responded with a "What the hell do you want?" He looked disheveled, like he had just woken up from a nap, but he was simply delectable. In sync with everyone else around here, he had no shirt on, and his cut off shorts were lingering dangerously low on his hips.

His eyes were squinting and he was currently rubbing them and when I realized that I still hadn't responded, I quickly bit out the excuse I had prepared on the way here, "Hi. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You ran off last night and…yeah." Oh, great. How eloquent, Kara. You idiot.

His eyes suddenly widened and his mouth opened and closed like a blubbering fish. Again, for the second time today, a door was slammed on me except this time, I didn't make the mistake of putting my foot in the door. Nope, I did not, because I'm a smart smart girl. Instead, I put my hand there. Cue the string of the curses. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

The door flung open again and suddenly there was a harmony of "shit, shit, shit" from both of us. I was suddenly picked up and placed on a stool and Jacob grabbed my hand lightly in his. He got out an ice pack (oh yay, another ice pack) and placed it on the back of my hand. I could see my knuckles were a raw red colour yet instead of being in excruciating pain like last time, I couldn't stop myself from losing myself in the frantic eyes of the man in front of me.

He had a pained yet conflicted look in his eyes as he held my hand in his left hand and pressed the ice pack to that same hand using his right hand. "Shit, I'm sorry. Why did you put your hand there?"

I tried not to notice the juxtaposition of his hot hand and the cold icepack. "Why'd you put the door on my hand?" I countered. Then I added on, "I don't like doors slamming in my face."

He winced. "Sorry about that…and for hurting your hand."

My stomach decided that this would be the perfect moment to growl. I tried to hide my embarrassment and play it off. "Well, I'll forgive you since you're icing my hand but I think we'll only ever be truly even if you feed me because I haven't eaten in a while. Or at least that's what the monster in my stomach and the voices in my head tell me." Oh goodness, I'm an idiot. He probably doesn't even think that I'm funny and he probably thinks I'm psycho and–

Booming laughter interrupted me. "You have a wild imagination, don't you?"

I could feel heat in my cheeks and thankfully my skin was dark enough that it wouldn't be noticeable but he seemed to notice it. "Well, I suppose I should feed you and that monster in your stomach then, now shouldn't I? Wouldn't want to disappoint."

He got up to make me something but my mind was still was wandering. _"You have a wild imagination."_ It was exactly what the dream-version of him said. I know that the only reason I even dreamed about myself in Egyptian times was because I fell asleep watching _Legends of Tomorrow_ but that didn't explain why I dreamt about him and not some other random hot guy. Gosh, even when I try to think of another hot guy now, his stupid face comes into mine…and his body. I felt my face getting even hotter as I chided myself for thinking about how sculpted his naked torso was while he was being a gentlemen and making me food in the kitchen. I was being a horn-dog over here…and then I remembered what came next in the dream: the kiss.

That single thought made my heart race and my eyes widen. I barely even know the guy. We've exchanged a total of maybe 50 words and I did come here with a mission in mind. I still had a lot of unanswered questions left. Plus, just because the first part of the dream came true doesn't mean that the second part will come true too…right?


	4. Chapter 4: A Bruise or a Scar?

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **I decided to spoil you guys with a new chapter so soon after the last one! I felt a burst of inspiration, so here you go! I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but I believe it's just as good! The next chapter will most likely be in Jacob's point of view, so hopefully that'll give you something to look forward to and it's also one of the reasons why this chapter is a bit shorter. The next chapter will give you more insight into what's going on in Jacob's pretty little head and explain why he acts the way does in this chapter. I hope you and enjoy and please leave me a review!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

"Why are you so hot?"

Those were the first words that came out of my mouth when Jacob came back with a delicious veggie sandwich. I wasn't sure if he knew that I was vegetarian or if it was just luck, but I was hungry and thankful…and stupid with my choice of words, of course.

"Well, you see, when two people love each other very much–"

"Okay, okay! I get it. No need to go further. I meant why are you so hot as in temperature wise."

"So I'm not figuratively hot then?"

"No, that's not what I said."

"So I am hot both figuratively and literally?"

"Yes…wait, no…stop tricking me and answer the question. I came here for a reason."

"To find out why I was so irresistibly hot?"

"Yes…wait, no! Stop twisting my words. You know what I mean!"

He chucked but finally gave in. "It's just a medical condition. My body temperature just so happens to be higher than the average person."

Hmmm…I suppose his explanation seemed okay. I mean, it was the obvious answer. Maybe I was just looking too much into things. I had recently been obsessed with mystery novels and _Stranger Things_ so maybe this was just me trying to find something paranormal in a very normal situation. "Fine…I suppose that makes sense, but don't think you're off the hook. I have a few more questions for you."

He chuckled, "Fine, but we have to set some conditions here. You ask me a question and then I get to ask you a question."

I responded immediately. "Deal. Okay, me first!"

He interrupted me before I could ask my question. "Nope, not so fast. You just asked one so it's my turn."

I put on my best puppy dog face but he was having none of that, so I dejectedly agreed to let him ask a question. Damn him and his gorgeous face and eyes and –

"What're you thinking about right now?"

Oh shit. "What?"

"What're you thinking about? You had an intense look on your face."

Shit. Shit. Shit. What was I thinking about? I can't tell him I was thinking about him and his eyes and his body and shit. "Raptor attacks, why 'phonetically' isn't spelled the way it sounds, how deep I dug that grave, and how to make your death look like an accident. Also, chocolate…" Oh, no. You idiot. You can never just answer like a normal person, can you?

There was a long awkward moment of silence until I heard the most pleasing sound I've ever heard in my entire existence. A booming laughter erupted from him and I stood there shocked. He tried to suppress it at first which made the laughter sound like giggling, but then he let it all out. It was contagious and at this point it sounded more hysterical and his russet skin started to show more hints of red, especially on the balls of his cheeks. Once he started to fall off of the stool, I put the ice pack down and placed my good hand on one of his shoulders.

"Oh no…did I break you too? I broke Leah earlier today…"

He wiped a tear from his eye and composed himself. "You're really something, you know that?"

"I'm human, I swear."

He chuckled again. "I believe you alright. I suppose it's your turn now then but if this keeps up, I might be dead of laughter by the end of this."

We continued to go back and forth asking each other questions and I must say I learned a lot about him and I revealed information about myself to him that I never thought I would. I learned that he was 16 like me, had two older twin sisters, and that his mother, Sarah, died in a car accident when he was 9 leaving him to give his father company at home. I also learned that his birthday was on January 14th and that he was in fact a whopping 6'7" (holy shit) compared to my tiny tiny 5'3" frame.

In return, I told him about how I had moved so much because of my dad's job and how we would hopefully be staying here for the rest of my high school career. Along with that, I told him how my favourite colour was black (I blushed at the irony of that), how my birthday was December 8th (I was technically older than him, ha!), how I loved to sing and read and write, and how my favourite animal was a narwhal (he got a laugh in when I mentioned my stuffed narwhal).

I also tried to sneak the sandwich thing into the conversation and he denied knowing that I was vegetarian, but somehow I felt like he already knew…odd. He told me about how he played a prank on Quil and Embry where he moved everything in their rooms by an inch and waited to see how long it would take for them to notice. In return, I told him about the time I dyed all of my brother's socks and underwear pink. We shared laughs and I even shared how I was an avid believer in the fact that humans are definitely not the only intelligent species out there because if we exist, why couldn't different beings exist?

Of course, good things don't last. That was my philosophy when it came to everything and as much as I wanted to be wrong in this moment, I wasn't.

It was my turn. "Alright…hmmm, werewolves or vampires?"

He responded immediately. "Werewolves, duh. What about you?"

"Both."

"Both? You can't just choose both."

"Sure I can."

"At least give me a reason."

"Hmm…well from what I've read in books of the different versions of werewolves, the only thing that can kill them are silver bullets and getting their heart ripped out or their head chopped off. Some can control their wolfiness and some can't, but they get to turn into a freaking wolf so that's a win in my book. As for vampires…well, I love Dracula. I've always had a crush on him. That, and the whole immortal thing seems pretty cool. I'm not so into the 'I want to suck your blood' part and garlic and daylight seem like pretty shitty weaknesses, but hey, at least they get to experience different cultures and eras and be apart of history. Plus, it's also hard to choose between the two because they're both pretty sexy, like 10/10, I would bang." I gave him a wink and started giggling maniacally and he gave me a weird and disturbed look but then proceeded to joined in.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say." He was still giving me a look that I couldn't dissect but we continued laughing until I heard a phone ring.

"You gonna get that, Jacob?"

He was confused at first until he too realized what I was referring to. "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I'm sure it's just one of Billy's friends asking him about when and where their next fishing trip will take place."

I gave him a smile and motioned for him to take the call. He picked up the phone and walked into the next room. All was well until I heard him silently yelling at the person on the other end of the phone. My interest in the phone call piqued so I tried my best to catch a few words. All I could catch were, "leech," "Victoria," and "treaty." As much as I tried to think about the connection those words had, I could think of none. I decided that if Jacob wanted me to know, he'd tell me. I was especially curious as to who this "Victoria" character was…and probably a little jealous, but from what I heard, she wasn't good news. I guess I didn't have to worry too much after all. Plus, Jacob and I were getting along pretty well now and the whole runaway accident yesterday seemed to be behind us…or so I thought.

When Jacob returned after what felt like hours, I tried to asking him if everything was okay in a serious yet lighthearted tone. "Hey, do you want to talk about? I'm here if you need someone to talk to, you know. Well, me and the voices in my head. They give great advice too!"

It didn't seem to change his reaction to the phone call. His entire demeanor changed. Gone was the open and honest Jacob. Instead, the young man before me was the same one I met yesterday. His eyes went from being cheerful and happy to dark and guarded once again. It was as if that phone call was like a bucket of ice water that was poured on his head, bringing him back to the reality of his ever-so-evident pain. I didn't like seeing him like this, but I had to know. I felt bad that the moment was ruined but I wanted s badly to help him through it. Seeing his eyes go…dead made my heart break. I tried to ask in such a way that would bring back the bright feel of the conversation from earlier but that clearly hadn't worked out in my favour.

After a few minutes of silence between us, he finally responded. "You should go."

My heart skipped a beat. "Wh-what? Jacob, I know I don't know what's happening and I can't change anything, but maybe I can–"

"You should go."

I tried to say something but no words would come out of my mouth. I looked into his eyes and I saw pain…but also regret. It was the same look I saw in his eyes last night…as if I was a burden to him. I hardly knew him but how could I be a burden? We just met…we were just enjoying each other's company. I was shocked at how he changed and why…who the hell was on the other end of that phone and what did they say that did this to him? "Jacob…"

He got up and walked to the door. He opened it and gestured for me to go. I was shocked and I desperately wanted to help him, but I resigned due to the fact that he didn't want me here. For some reason that thought hurt. _He doesn't want me._ It struck me to my core so I dejectedly got up from the stool and left the ice pack on the table. I looked up at him cowering over me as I walked out of the door, hoping for him to change his mind and say he was just pranking me. I looked for any sort of sign. There was none.

I was left feeling alone and out of the loop yet again. I couldn't for the life of me understand why I had grown such an attachment to Jacob in just a few hours. I had talked to Emily and Kim much more than I had talked to him, but something inside of me just told me that didn't matter. As cheesy as it was to think about, I had never met anyone that could get information out of me as effortlessly as he could. Talking to him was so easy and the thing is, I actually talked to him. I told him things I usually don't tell people and instead of feeling uncomfortable like I normally do, I let myself be me. It alarmed me that I had so quickly taken a liking to him especially because I could now see that my heart wasn't safe and guarded anymore. I couldn't let him get too close. I felt crazy for even thinking about that considering I hadn't even known him for 24 hours but my heart just yearned to take away his sadness and replace it with hope and joy.

I thought about those words. _"You should go."_ It brought me back to reality. I reminded myself everything that has a beginning has an ending. Fri-end. Girlfri-end. Boyfri-end. Best fri-end. I was hoping that our friendship would last longer than a couple of hours but I suppose I enjoyed it while it lasted…although, you know what does't have an ending? Pizza…or alone…or me, which is exactly what's gonna happen when I get home.

I felt wounded because I took his words to heart and they left a mark on my soul. A bruise hurts but it doesn't last; a scar hurts but it lasts forever. I suppose I'd soon be determining just which one Jacob Black turned out to be.

A bruise…or a scar?


	5. Chapter 5: Screwed

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **This chapter is in Jacob's POV so you can get a little insight into what's going on inside his head. It was a bit hard to write, but I hope I did him justice. It was interesting to try to put myself in his shoes and if you guys liked this chapter, I was considering writing the next one in his POV as well so you could see Chapter 4 from his perspective. But, it all depends on what you guys have to say. I hope you and enjoy and please leave me a review!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

JACOB'S POV

The moment I looked into her eyes, I knew I was screwed.

Let's rewind, shall we?

 _oOoOoOoOo_

It was a typical day for me. Patrol for bloodsuckers, eat, sleep, and spend time with Bella. The latter was my favourite part of the day. Her precious _Edward_ was back but I knew she still loved me. I was the one who put the broken pieces of her heart back together when that leech left her alone in the forest all broken and battered; I was the one she trusted; I was the one she truly loved...now all she had to do was realize the truth.

The pack were trying our best to catch the red-headed leech when one of _them_ decided it was okay to cross over on _our_ land to get her. Hell no! The big muscular freak fell on Paul, who being as hot-headed as he is, tried to start a fight. I wouldn't have minded getting a good bite in any of the bloodsuckers but of course, Dr. Vamp and the emotion-controlling freak calmed us all down before that could happen. I was looking forward to getting a good chunk out of Blondie and Edward...speaking of whom, he hadn't even told Bella about any of this shit.

I was glad in a way. Her and the bloodsucker went to Florida and I called her for the first time in weeks to talk to her. Then, I randomly showed up at Forks High school so the psychic couldn't see me and when I mentioned the dispute about the boundary, I found out Bella didn't know what we were talking about. I used that to my advantage and boy was she pissed off at the leech. Everything is fair in love and war...or something like that. It was an amazing start to the day.

We ended up walking near the shoreline of the beach. We wandered around aimlessly and I was still pretty proud of how I came up with a plan to get her away from the leeches. I turned my head towards Bella. "Do you think they'll come looking for you?"

She responded with certainty. "No. They're going to be furious with me tonight, though."

They had no right to be mad at her. She could do what she wanted... "Don't go back, then. Charlie wouldn't mind."

Judging by her facial expression, she knew I was right, but she changed the subject. "So what's the latest pack scandal?"

I skidded to a halt and looked at her with shocked eyes until I realized that was a feeble attempt at a joke. I started thinking about Quil imprinting on Claire and I told her about how I forgot what it was like not having everyone know everything all the time. It really was odd to have a moment to myself where I was just lost in my thoughts without anyone else's thoughts trying to get shoved in my head or anyone listening in to what I was thinking.

Of course, after I told her Quil imprinted on Claire, she immediately started questioning me and when she found out Claire was two, she simply stood there blinking at me with her mouth ajar. She protested and refused to believe it, but that's only because she didn't know the power of imprinting. Sure, it was a bit creepy that Quil would have to wait for Claire, but it's not like he was getting older any time soon. It would suck for him though because he has to be extremely patient, but from what I've seen of him and Claire so far, he's whipped. The time will probably fly by for him.

Bella still looked horrified. "It sounds really creepy."

I understood where she was coming from, but at the same time she was thinking about it in a different light than what imprinting is actually meant to be. " You've got it all wrong. I've seen what it's like, through his eyes. There's nothing _romantic_ about it all, not for Quil, not now." I was so frustrated because even though I hadn't imprinted, I knew what it felt like through Quil, Jared, and Sam. It was hard to ignore those feelings. "It's so hard to describe. It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like...gravity moves. When you see _her_ , suddenly it's not the earth holding you here anymore. She does. And nothing matters more than her. And you would do anything for her, be anything for her...You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend, or a brother." I didn't say it out loud, but in my head, I was thinking, _It's the way I feel about you._ "When Claire grows up, they'll be as happy as Emily and Sam." _Like we could be if you just chose me over the damn bloodsucker...I could give you the world._

She was still processing when she asked, "doesn't Claire get a choice here?"

"Of course. But why wouldn't she choose him, in the end? He'll be her perfect match. Like he was designed for her alone."

After that, we walked in silence. I could tell she wanted to ask more questions but she refrained for now. We were both lost in thought. I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if I had imprinted on her? I loved her. I was sure of that. From what I've heard from all the other guys who've imprinted, my feelings towards Bella seemed to match theirs. There was still a chance for us. She could still choose me. We could grow old together. Have children together...grandchildren. I was knocked out of my thoughts by another one of her questions.

"When do you think it'll happen for her?"

My temper flared. "Never." Nobody and I mean _nobody_ was going to take me away from my Bella. It wasn't something I could control because imprinting happens as soon as you see _her_ (which is never going to happen). I looked at Bella with love in my eyes. "I'll never see anyone else, Bella. I only see you. Even when I close my eyes and try to see something else. I only see you." I knew I probably made her uncomfortable, but she needed to know. She needed to know that she had another option and that we could be great...

She suggested leaving, but I shot down the idea. I promised that there would be no more talk about this. I would rather keep the pain inside than not be around her. It killed me to be away from her and I was willing to just be Jacob around her to get her to stay. I was _her Jacob._

 _oOoOoOoOo_

After spending the day at the beach with Bella and riding our motorcycles around La Push, we ate some sandwiches that I made and we went back to my house to get out of the rain. Of course, that's where all the good times ended.

I thought I had more time with her. I thought I had more time to convince her how I was the right choice for her but apparently, she was already set on being dead...like them...like _him._

She tried to plead and reason with me but how could she reason when she wasn't being reasonable in the first place? "Will you never forgive me?"

Of course I would forgive Bella, but she wouldn't be the same anymore. She wouldn't be my Bella anymore. "My friend won't exist so there will be no one to forgive." I tried to lighten the mood a bit. " We still have a few years. Can't we be friends until we run out of time?"

She looked at me and let out a humourless laugh. "Years? Jake, not years... _weeks_ is more accurate."

Weeks? _Weeks?_ Was she kidding me? I stood up and my fists couldn't stop from clenching. I heard the soda can exploding in the background but that didn't matter anymore. "Weeks." The leech was stuck as a seventeen year old and as Bella was approaching nineteen, she wanted to be as close in age to him as possible.

"He's all I want. What else can I do?"

You can love me...you can grow to love me. Hell, love anyone else other than him. "Anything. Anything else. Hell, you'd be better off dead. I'd rather you were."

Shit. I looked at the pained expression on her face and I knew I fucked up, but I couldn't move. She grabbed her motorcycle and sped away taking my heart with her.

 _oOoOoOoOo_

After that fiasco, I had to patrol again until the bonfire. I knew I had royally messed up with Bella, but how could she be willing to turn herself into one of _them_ just for that leech? It's not like bloodsuckers had imprints. The pull was nowhere near as strong so she was wrong when she said she had no other choice. She had plenty of other choices...me included. I didn't mean to tell her that she'd be better off dead, but in a way, it was true. I'd rather she be gone completely than become one of them. At least if she died, she would exist in my memories and she would die as my Bella rather than becoming one of them and ceasing to exist at all.

I was knocked out of my thoughts by the other guys. For a moment, I had forgotten how they could hear every word I thought. Great.

 _Dude, you didn't even imprint on her. Just let her go._

That pissed me off. _Gee thanks, Quil. At least I didn't imprint on a two year old. How's that going for you?_

I heard Embry trying to be the voice of reason. _Hey, don't put your anger out on him, dude. We get it. It sucks that Bella's choosing him, but we can't do anything about it._

That's the thing. We could do something about it. _If he bites her, it breaks the treaty._

Embry responded again. _So what do you want to do? Kill them all? That would include Bella, you know. Even if she becomes one of them, you know you'll still care about her. You say you won't but if you feel like this about her now..._

Damnit. I knew he was right, but I couldn't bring myself to accept it.

 _Plus, what if you imprint? What then?_ Embry questioned me with a curious yet worried tone.

 _I won't love anyone else. Bella is the one for me. If I imprint...which won't ever happen, my duty will still be to Bella. I'll fight like hell because she's the love of my life and imprint or not, nothing can change that. I'll always love her._

This time Sam put in his input, which was shocking to say the least. _You may think that you love her now, but things change, Jacob. You can't fight the imprint if it happens. Trust me, I know._

I thought about all the drama that went down between Sam, Leah, and Emily. I was stronger than that. _Imprinting may not be a choice, but if it ever happens (which it won't), I can choose what to be and I'm going to choose to be a friend, if that. You tried so hard to fight it completely, but I'll accept her as a friend...nothing more. In fact, maybe I'll just ignore the girl and avoid her. Check up on her once in a while...I'd be spending time with Bella anyways._

Sam responded with one last comment. _And what happens when Bella is gone? What then?_

What then? _I'll love the memory of her._

With that, the conversation ended. I shifted back and put a pair of cut off shorts on. I looked at the saw it was 5:00pm so I decided to go home and get a quick power nap in before I had to show up to the bonfire. My dad was telling the legends again for some of the new wolves and I knew he wanted me to be there. I loved listening to them anyways...plus, Emily was bringing food and that's always a plus.

I opened the door to my house and walked into my room. I was exhausted. I plopped down on the bed that was too small for my large frame but I didn't even care. I closed my eyes and thought about Bella. Her beautiful brown eyes and dark chocolate hair. Her vanilla scent and her pale porcelain skin in contrast to my deep russet skin. Her hand in mine. Her lips on mine...and with those thoughts, I fell into a blissful sleep.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I woke up with a start. It took me a while to remember where I was and I looked at the clock. Shit! It was already 6:00. Luckily the beach wasn't too far away, so I just ran out of the house and made my way over there. I jogged over there and approached the beach. I could already see Emily and Kim setting up the food. My mouth watered as I looked at the large variety of food and I was already mentally setting up a plate for myself. I was looking through the crowd for my dad when I spotted him by the fire. I walked towards him and he greeted me with a laugh. "Jacob! You finally decided to grace us with your presence then, son?"

I figured he let me sleep a bit and that he was the one who set the alarm. I let out a chuckle and decided to play around with my old man. "Sure, sure. I only came for the food." It was half true, after all, but he didn't need to know that. I was about to tell him how I was going to go and find Embry and Quil and try to steal some food, but he spoke up before I could. "Son, this is Kara. She just moved to La Push a few weeks ago. I actually used to know her father back when we were kids." A girl walked closer to Billy so I turned my head to look at her. I was about to greet her when I noticed how small she was. She craned her neck upwards dragging her eyes along the length of my body before finally settling her eyes onto mine.

 _The moment I looked into her eyes, I knew I was screwed._

I sucked in a deep breath. My brown eyes met her brown eyes. But they weren't just brown. They had flecks of gold in them. The fire burned bright and I saw a glimpse of our future together. We were holding hands and walking along the beach laughing and talking. We were kissing on our wedding day. We were growing old together. We were in love. But then another pair of brown eyes popped into my head. _Bella_. I love her...not this stranger in front of me. Kara Zanders. All I knew was her freaking name. I could feel the heat inside of me getting hotter and hotter. I could hear the guys in the background. I could feel myself shaking. I was whisked away from the scene by Sam and Paul, but I ripped myself away from them and ran off into the woods on my own. I needed to let off some steam.

This...this _girl_ just decides to come into my life and completely screw me over. I love Bella not her. She's just a stranger. I don't care what Sam and Quil and all of them say...I can and I will love Bella. I refuse to not have a choice in this. Screw fate. Screw Destiny. Screw it _her._ Screw it all.

With that thought, I continued to run and run as I tried to leave my thoughts behind me...as I tried to leave _her_ behind me, but I couldn't get one thing out of my mind. Those beautiful golden-speckled brown eyes.

Shit.


	6. Chapter 6: Truth or Dare

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **I've decided that I'm only going to post another chapter if at least 2 people write a review of this chapter (or any previous chapter) or favourite/follow my story. I need to make some goals and I need to know that people like what they read so sorry for doing this to you guys but hearing from you guys gives me motivation to write. While I like writing for myself, it's also nice to know that other people are enjoying my story too. Also, Anonymous reviews are a thing if you don't have an account or if you just want to be all mysterious haha. So please leave me a review because the feedback really helps me! Any kind of feedback is appreciated as is constructive criticism! Please and thank you (^.^)**

 **Sorry for being AWOL for these past couple of weeks. I've been super busy and to be honest, I had a bit of writer's block. I tried to make up for my absence by making this chapter longer than most of my other chapters. It has a lot of humour but also a bit of seriousness and I think you guys will really like it. This really helped me get back on track with the story though and I know exactly what's going to happen in the next few chapters, so get ready, guys. You're in for a heck of a ride! I hope you and enjoy and please leave me a review!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

I was left feeling more lost than ever.

After Jacob had basically kicked me out of his house, I made my way home and I spent the rest of the day sulking. Moving was already hard to begin with and I was hoping to make friends this time, but clearly that hadn't been working out too well for me. I should have just stuck to my original plan of getting through high school and hightailing out of here. Every time I've gotten close to a person in the past, it never worked out and I was always the one that ended up sad, alone, and broken. Well, not this time…I still couldn't get him out of my head and my insecurities were leaving me on edge wondering if I did something or said something that offended him. Gosh diddly darn it. I decided to just call it a day and go to bed. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

I woke up and decided that I would start fresh. No more thinking about _him_. I remembered that I had gotten Leah's number and since Emily and Kim were avoiding me, I decided to give her a try…my last chance to successfully make a friend. No pressure or anything…not. We may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but she seemed different than the other people I had met so far. I liked her fiery attitude but there was also pain in her that was nonexistent in the others…I could relate to that. I figured that a good way for me to make peace with her would be to make amends for barging in on her the other. I dialed the number on my phone and started getting out the eggs and flour from the pantry as I waited for a voice to come from the other end.

A slightly gruff sounding female let out a, "What?"

"Is this Leah?" Of course it is, you doofus. Who else would it be?

"Yeah. Who's this?"

Idiot. Introduce yourself. "Umm, hi. This is Kara. We kind of sort of met yesterday? I just wanted to apologize for barging in yesterday and I was wondering if you kind of sort of wanted to hang out now? Yeah…"

"I can't."

"I have cookies…or I will have them after I make them."

"Tempting…but I can't. I have…work. How about after? Around…7:00pm?"

Success! I did a little happy dance until I realized that I had't replied. Smooth. Real Smooth. "Um, yeah! Sure, that works. I was hoping I wouldn't have to pull the you-slammed-a-door-in-my-face-and-I-could-sue-you card."

I heard a chuckle from the other end. "You're insane, you know that?"

"So I've been told, but don't worry. I'm not insane. My mother had me tested."

"I'm sure…Well, I gotta go. Since you already seem to know where I live, just meet me there."

"Okay, no problem."

I heard the dial tone signal that she had ended the call. I suppose I had longer than expected to make these cookies.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was around 6:30pm and I had been somewhat productive throughout the day. I made the cookies…after burning about two batches, but the third one was edible, so it all worked out in the end! I had decided to walk there instead of taking my car because the weather outside was nice and because Leah's house wasn't actually too far. Plus, I hadn't gotten to see as much of La Push as I had wanted to and I'd been isolated in the house all day so a little fresh air couldn't hurt. I put the cookies in a container with a handle, packed a small backpack with clothes just in case I slept over (high expectations for a first friend-date, am I right?), and made sure to grab my house keys so I didn't lock myself out…again. The last time that happened was when we first moved here and it was so hot outside that I ended up sitting in the freezer as I waited for one of my parents to come home. Not one of my proudest moments, but I made like MacGyver and found a way to survive!

Anyways, before I knew it, I was at Leah's house. I looked at my phone and it was 6:53pm so a bit early but on time nonetheless. The lights in the house were off so I figured she wasn't here yet and waited on the doorstep. I plugged in my headphones and listened to some "Lights Down Low" by MAX, but I made sure to keep an eye out for Leah and for any potential axe murderers…you never know. After about 5 minutes, something in the woods caught my attention. Lo and behold! Leah walks out of the woods like nothing's wrong with that and I just continue to sit there in shock. Like…why the heck is she coming from the woods when she's just finished work? Is she a lumberjack…or an axe murderer? What the heck? I try to mask my concern and before she sees me sitting on the porch, I hop over the railway to the porch and jog a bit away from the house to where she can't see me. I wait until I hear the door slam to let me know that she's already inside before I make my way (yet again) to her house.

I wasn't sure how to approach this but I decided to pull a Sheldon Cooper.

knock, knock, knock. "Leah."

knock, knock, knock. "Leah."

knock, knock, knock. "Leah."

She finally opened and gave me a sour look. "Right on time, huh?"

I decided to quell her bitter mood and shoved the box of cookies in her face. Food makes everyone happy, right?

She invited me in…and then I realized that I had absolutely no idea what we were going to do for goodness knows how many hours.

"Hey, Leah. Any ideas as to what we can do?"

"I just invited you over…well, technically you kinda invited yourself over. It's up to you."

An idea struck me…it seemed like a somewhat harmless game but I could use it to my advantage. I pretended to think for a bit more and tried to hide my glee about my brilliant idea. (if I do say so myself).

"How about a classic game of truth or dare?"

"What if I choose one and don't want to tell you something or complete a dare?"

"How about if you choose truth and don't like the question, you'll have to complete a dare and vice versa?"

"I suppose that sounds fair."

"Don't worry. Everything that's said/done here stays here. Deal?" I stuck my hand out.

"Fine but I'm not shaking your hand" She just turned and motioned for us to sit down in the living room. "So…who's going first?"

I brushed off her attitude. I needed to build some trust so I decided to let her go first. Might as well go all or nothing, right?

"You can go first."

"Okay. Truth or Dare?"

Truth or Dare…If I chose Truth, I had no idea what she'd ask. She knew next to nothing about me so she could either ask some easy question to start or a more personal one. From what I'd seen of her and from the vibe I was getting off of her, I don't think she's one to ask an easy question…the same thing goes with dare. Well, I did say I'd go all or nothing.

"Dare."

"You sure about that, Kara?" She gave me a taunting smile which just ignited a fire in me. I had always been a highly competitive person and if she was waving a red cloth in front of a bull, then that bull was going to charge at her with all its might.

"I'm 100% sure."

"If you insist."

"Oh, I do."

"Hmm, alright then. I dare you to insult Paul."

Paul? I hadn't met him yet but I _had_ heard that he had quite a temper on him. Nonetheless, there was a little (big) flaw in her dare.

"He isn't here right now, Leah…"

"Oh, I know, but you never said the dare had to be an in-the-moment kind of thing. My dare is that when you meet Paul, you throw the best insult you can think of at him. No skimping out."

Well that certainly wasn't what I was expecting but honestly, it didn't seem that bad of a dare. Then again, all of the boys were over six feet and completely ripped so this Paul fellow could probably rip me to shreds with his bare hands…but other than that, what could go wrong?

"Alright. I accept your challenge. Now, truth or dare?" I decided to run through a few rounds of the game before I went through with my plan.

"Hmmm…truth."

Alright. Truth…let's see. What can I ask her that's not too personal but at the same time will help me learn something important about her? I decided to avoid the topic of relationships because I noted that she was a bit bitter looking at the other couples at the bonfire, so maybe that was a question better suited for another time. I did a little research so I knew her father died because of a heart attack so no questions about parents…hmm, but Seth was free to ask about. She seemed quite protective of her little brother and having met Seth myself, even I could see what an amazing person he was.

"Your brother, what do you think of him? And I mean, what do you really think of him?"

Her eyes seemed to soften a bit. "Seth's a good kid."

"Yeah…and? Details, Leah!"

"He's an annoying little shit but I'd do anything to protect him. I'm pretty sure mom dropped him a lot when he was a baby so that's probably why he's happy all the time. I know I'm not the nicest person and I can come off like I'm harsh and like I'm a compassionless shrew but Seth loves me anyways. He's helped me get through tough times without even knowing it. He's a good kid."

I wasn't sure what Leah had been through but I could sense there was more to what she said than what she was telling me. Maybe he had helped her get through the death of their father? But there was something else…I suppose with time, I'd know soon enough.

"Aww, does the ice queen actually have a heart? How cute. Look who's getting all maternal and protective!"

Her face took on a sour look. "Oh, shut up." She shoved me a bit but I guess she didn't realize the extent of her strength because I tumbled off of the sofa.

"Oof…is this how you treat all your guests? By trying to kill them? Or I'm sorry, not necessarily kill but severely maim and injure them? Strike two, Clearwater. Another strike and I'll really sue you."

Wait…sue you…wasn't her mother's name Sue? I couldn't help the laughter that followed.

"Sue you…all this time…sue you." The laughter continued as tears sprung to my eyes. I looked up at Leah from my position on the floor and I could see her looking at me like I belonged in a mental hospital. I tried to calm my laughs but I couldn't so I attempted to explain the reason behind my little laughing fit.

"I keep on saying that I'm gonna sue you…and your mother's name is Sue…and…and nope. You don't find this amusing, do you? I'm lame." I decided to make the best of the awkward situation I put myself in and just started rolling. Again, go big or go home. I just kept rolling and rolling and found myself in the Clearwater's kitchen where I decided to get up. Leah walked in with an amused look on her face.

"What the hell was that, Kara? Oops, I'm sorry. I mean, what the hell was that, Riddler?"

I channeled my inner Riddler. "Too many questions, too many questions." I then paused and threw my hands together dramatically. "Was that over the top? I can never tell."

Leah then proceeded to laugh. Like, she actually laughed. Clearly, I was a miracle worked. "You're so weird, Kara."

"I'm not weird. I'm limited edition. Plus, brainy is the new sexy."

"You're a bit of a psychopath, to be honest."

"Oh, please. Don't talk out loud. You lower the IQ of the whole street. Get your facts right. I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research, Leah."

"So you watch _Sherlock_ then?"

"It depends. Is that your next question if I chose truth?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Then, I choose truth and yes. I love Sherlock's attitude and the fact that he doesn't even care and is proud of the fact that he doesn't know about the Solar System. He justifies how cool it is _not_ to know basic stuff…plus Benedict Cumberbatch. I mean, it's true. Those cheekbones really could cut someone. Plus him and Martin Freeman just make the cutest pair, don't you think?"

We proceeded to put a pause on the game and just went on a tangent about what other shows we liked. We both liked _Sherlock, Stranger Things, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Jane the Virgin_ and _Supergirl,_ so basically most of the shows on CW and the good shows on Netflix. However, I was shocked to hear that she didn't like _The Vampire Diaries_. She said she couldn't even give it a try. I mean, I had been a faithful follower of the show and it was in its eighth season now and I could see if she didn't like where it was headed now, but back during the first few seasons, it was my life!

"Are you kidding me? But all the characters are so hot! I mean, Stefan and Damon and Klaus. Oh, goodness. Klaus, he's my favourite. I mean, he's a thousand year old vampire but I'd let him take me any time of any day."

She seemed to have a dark look on her face. "He's a vampire."

"Yeah, so?" I didn't understand the big deal. He was a vampire…but it's a tv show. "Honestly, wouldn't living forever be kinda cool? I mean, the whole burning in the sun thing isn't pretty but on the show they have daylight rings for that."

"They don't burn in the sun. They just sparkle…like some sort of sparkly fairy. Werewolves are way better."

Wait what? I hadn't read that in any books or seen that in any shows. "What're you talking about?"

"Never mind."

"No…wait, what? You said they glitter? What're you talking about?"

"It was just in some book I read. Never mind."

Great. I felt like all the progress we had made was lost. She was finally warming up to me…I needed her to warm up to me again. I was having so much fun that I had almost forgotten about my plan. I definitely wanted to be Leah's friend because she seemed like a genuine person and I was a sucker for pulling people out of dark places (which is why I loved the Klaus and Caroline dynamic so much). I decided to get things back on track.

"I like werewolves too, for the record. Your turn. Truth or Dare?"

"I guess I'll choose Dare this time."

Good. She chose dare…I needed to choose something that wouldn't make her too uncomfortable but at the same time would bring the fun side out in her.

"Where is your brother right now?

She had a suspicious look on her face. She looked at the time and then answered. "It's around 8 right now so he probably got off work and is on his way home soon…why?"

"I dare you to call your brother and ask him to buy you condoms on his way home."

"Whoa, what?"

"You heard me, woman! I dare you to call Seth and ruin his innocent mind a bit by asking him to buy you condoms…and specify XL for the size."

She looked like she was about to change her mind and choose truth so I threw in another comment. I had a feeling she was as competitive as I was.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't take you for such a worrisome person. Here I was thinking that you were the type of girl to take risks…my bad."

That seemed to snap her out of her uncertainty. "I'll do it."

"Good."

"Good."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"You're a little shit, you know that?"

"Yeah, but you're the big shit that fell for the little shit's tricks!"

We both stared at each other a bit and then laughed together in synchrony.

"So…you gonna call him now or what?"

"Oh, shut up. I'm dialing the number."

"Don't forget to put it on speaker phone!" I gave her a cheeky smile.

She dialed the number and put it on speaker phone. She was probably hoping he wouldn't pick up but lo and behold! we heard his voice from the other end.

"Hey, Lee-Lee. What's up?"

I couldn't help myself, so I whispered, "Aww, Lee-Lee? I'm so using that one."

She motioned for me to shut up. "Hey, Seth. Are you on your way home?

"Yeah, I'm just at…I'm gonna be on my way in a couple minutes, why?"

"Can you stop by drug store on the way home for me?"

"Umm…sure, why? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You know we don't get sick."

I wasn't sure what she meant by that but I chose to ignore it because I was waiting for her to pop the big question.

"Okay. What do you need?"

Oh, here it comes!

She gave me a I'm-gonna-get-you-back-for-this look and went in for the kill. "I need you to get me a box of condoms. XL."

We were met with silence from the other end. Finally, we heard a weak, "what?"

Leah took in a deep breath and repeated the sentence. "I need you to get me a box of condoms. XL."

We heard some shuffling from the other end and then Seth finally responded with, "oh, geez. I heard you the first time." and proceeded to hang up the phone.

Leah looked mortified but me? I was a happy camper. I couldn't stop the smile that came from my face and cheerfully asked, "So, do you think that was a yes?" My face was hurting from smiling so much but I was just so damn proud of myself for coming up with that amazing dare and I was proud for getting her to go through with it.

She turned to look at me and even she had a small smile on her face mixed with an evil look on her face. "Oh, I don't think it matters. What does matter is that it's your turn now, Kara. So, go ahead. Truth or dare?" She gave me a creepy smile which led me to choose truth.

"I think I'm gonna go with truth…Lee-Lee."

I was imagining her lunging at me for calling her that and pinning me to the floor but she stayed eerily calm as her eye twitched a bit. "Truth, huh? Fine then. I can work with that…can I ask a question with parts?"

I didn't like the devious look in her eyes but I was curious. I could hear Admiral Ackbar in the background screaming, "It's a trap!" I chose to ignore that warning and went ahead and said, "Sure. Why not?" Why not indeed.

"Alright. Great!" She flashed me a fake smile. "Well, first things first. What do you think of Jacob?"

I tried to keep my cool because I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks and the my heart quickening at the mention of his name, but I managed to give her a proper answer. "He's an odd one, why?"

"Do you like him?"

Cue the sweating. "He seems nice, sure."

She gave me a bittersweet smile. "You know what I mean."

"Maybe a little bit but it doesn't matter. He's giving me whiplash anyways."

"I'll take that as a yes. Now to my actual question. If you had him in the house alone and you could do anything with him, what would you do?"

I think my heart just stopped…I imagined his strong hands rough from working heading for my waist. I imagined his arms wrapping around me and his eyes…those hauntingly beautiful eyes staring down at me as he moved his head closer…as he moved his lips closer…no wait! I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Leah with a renewed sense of purpose.

"What would I do if I had him in the house alone? Well…it involves blankets and pillows."

"Okay, that's a start."

"Jacob and I would have a lot of fun." I pretended to look embarrassed.

"And?"

"We'd build a fort of course!" I started laughing at the annoyed look on her face.

"Didn't we agree to tell the truth?"

"Technically I am telling a truth…or a version of it. You asked what I would do if I had Jacob and the house all to myself, correct? Well…one thing I'd do would be to build a fort. There are a few other scenarios I can think of but…I answered your question. Oh, well! Thanks for playing!"

"I hate you."

"I'm touched. Girls only say 'I hate you' to people they love."

"I strongly dislike you."

"Close enough. My turn! Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

I decided that now was the perfect time to go through with the plan. "What's the deal with Jacob. Actually, what's the deal with all of you? There's something I'm missing…important information. I don't like secrets so spill."

She had a pained look on her face…like she wanted to tell me but she couldn't. "I change my mind. Dare."

"Fine. I dare you to tell me."

"Kara, it's not my place to tell you. As much as I want to, I can't."

"What the hell does that mean? Every time I ask someone what's going on, they either ignore me or give me some cryptic response."

"I don't like it either and I know this sounds bad, but I promise it'll all make sense eventually."

"Fine, don't tell me what the hell's going on with all of you but at least tell me what the whole deal with Jacob is."

She looked apprehensive so I added on, "I know, I know. It's not your place to tell me but I promise not to tell anyone you told me. Please…I just need to know."

She had a defeated look on her face. "Fine. Jacob…well, Jacob's an idiot in my opinion but I'll try to see things in his point of view and explain them to you. Do you know who Bella Swan is?"

"Bella Swan…I've heard a few things about her"

"Do you know who the Cullens are though?"

"Is that some sort of cult?"

"Sort of…Okay, basically there's this girl named Bella–super pale and super clumsy–and she fell in love with this guy named Edward–super creepy but apparently she finds him oh-so-attractive–and he…left town for a bit. In that time, she got all depressed and Jacob helped her through that. She took advantage of that and he fell for her but when the leech…I mean, Edward, came back, she ran back to him leaving Jacob in the dust. Not sure how Jacob fell for her in the first place especially because he knows that he has an imp…never mind. But yeah, basically he got his heart broken and is still hung up on the leech-lover."

I let the information sink in. I now understood why he got mad that day. As stupid as it sounds, he probably felt like he was cheating on Bella by spending time with me. When you love someone, even if they don't love you back, you still feel committed to them. It made my heart ache at the thought of Jacob loving or just loving someone else at all, but I knew I wasn't in love with him…or not yet, at least. At this point, I just wanted him to be happy and I knew if I saw this Bella chick, I'd deck her in the face. I know I was thinking irrationally and that there are multiple sides to every story but seeing that broken look in Jacob's eyes was enough for me to seethe in anger if I ever heard her name mentioned again. I suppose I'd get all the facts first and then decide what I think of her. Getting all the information might prove to be a bit tricky, but it would be worth the trouble. Curiosity may have killed the cat…but satisfaction brought it back.

I looked at Leah. "I'm sorry for pushing you but I needed to know. As for Jacob, I feel for him. Confession time for me. I went to his house the other day after I left your house and we ended up talking and I broke through his walls…but then he shut me out. I suppose it's hard to tell your mind to stop loving someone if your heart still does…but he needs to let go. I'm damn sure there's a girl for him who'd love him and cherish him and…be all that he needs." *cough**me**cough* "He's holding on to the pain because that's all he has left of… _her_ , but he needs to remember who he is. Forgiveness is a reflection of loving yourself enough to move on and he needs to know that he deserves better. As for Bella? She seems like a user…and honestly, from what you told me and from what I've heard around town, not that I'm one to listen to rumours, she seems like a piece of work. I mean, she was found in the forest after her boy-toy left her. There's love and then there's dependence and infatuation and that's what it seems like she has with the Edward kid. Maybe it's just because I'm team Jacob but she needs a good talking to and from what I've seen, she needs to be told what she's done to Jacob and she needs to be told to stay away from him so he can heal…and also, if she is as bad as I'm conjuring her up to be or worse, then she needs to be decked in the face."

Leah gave me a long and hard look and we exchanged a look until she finally broke the silence. "What if I told you I knew where Bella Swan was going to be tomorrow?"

"I'd say, let's get the bitch…Lee-Lee." Oh, sue me. I couldn't resist.


	7. Chapter 7: I Don't Want You

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **Thank you for leaving reviews and following my story/me as an author! I really appreciate it and it gives me so much motivation to write. I haven't been able to post a chapter for a while because I've had killer exams, but I'm back! I'll be posting regularly now that I have almost a month off for Winter Break! My goal for this chapter is at least 2 more reviews of any chapter (preferably this one) and 2 more follows on this story/on me as an author.**

 **I've decided to post this chapter today because it's my birthday! I'm following Hobbit traditions and gifting others a present on my birthday, so I hope you all enjoy! I know I left a bit of a cliffhanger on the last chapter, so I hope this one satisfies you guys! As always,** **I hope you enjoy and please leave me a review!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

Today was the big day.

It was about 23 hours after my impromptu sleepover at Leah's house (what can I say, I'm a stickler for time). After she had told me that she knew where Bella Swan aka Richard (short for Richard McDickface) would be, we made a plan. Side note, we came up with the name Richard for her because one, it sounded like an old timey grandpa name which seemed to fit her personality pretty well and two, Dick is short for Richard and if the shoe fits…

Okay, to be real, I wasn't going to completely judge her until I met her because everyone has problems of their own, but that didn't mean I had to like her. I'd play nice but if I sensed something off about her, then I would hurt her more than someone getting a hand job from Edward Scissorhands. It was around 5:30pm right now (there's that obsession with time again) and I was just about ready to head over to Leah's house again. We had a couple of plans to go over depending on how things went. Plan A was called Operation Superman which we would go through if I found Richard to be a genuinely nice person who wasn't taking advantage of Jacob in which I'd actually befriend her and politely make her aware of how she was hurting Jacob. While I would love for this to be the plan, I had a feeling it wouldn't be. Plan B was called Operation Iron Man which we would go through if I found Bella to be kind of a dick but also kind of a good person in which I'd kind of make friends with her but definitely tell her about how she's being a dick and that she should give Jacob some space to breathe and whatnot. There was around a 50% chance of this happening but what I was secretly hoping would go down was Plan C.

Now, I'm not a mean person or anything like that but if you hurt someone I care about…or someone I have an oddly strange connection to, then you're going to be more burnt than burnt toast. Operation Batman would occur if I sensed that Bella knew she was toying with Jacob's emotions and she was willingly putting herself in a sick love triangle just to keep both Edward and Jacob interested in her. With Operation Batman, I would be pretty merciless. You see, Batman actually has contingency plans for every one of the members of the Justice League so he knows how to take out each and every one of them and if we go through with this plan…well, I know exactly how to take Bella Swan aka Richard (Dick) McDickface out. I needed to weed her out like a virus; slowly, but surely.

I arrived at Leah's house without knowing it because I was too lost in my thoughts but this time Leah was actually sitting on her front steps instead of randomly appearing from the forest (not that she knew that I knew that), but I decided to focus on that issue later and on Plans A-C right now. I got out of my car and plopped myself down next to her. Then, I turned to her and flicked some hair out of my eyes and smiled an overly polite smile.

"You ready for this, Lee Lee?" I asked pretending like I hadn't said something that could potentially give her an aneurism. She had a glint of laughter in her eyes, but her face didn't give away any of her amusement.

"Oh, I'm ready for this, Kara…and if you call me that again, I'll punch you in the dick with a cactus."

Did she just? Oh, no she didn't.

My smile inwardly increased tenfold but I folded my hands in front of me, trying to appear more serious. "Leah…I don't have a dick, but is there something you're trying to tell me? Because, I accept all kinds of people, you know. And if you find yourself becoming attracted to me, then that's perfectly al-"

And then I got punched in the face and my life flashed before me. The end.

JUST KIDDING!

Although I did get punched lightly in the arm…well, lightly in Leah's eyes but that punch hurt as much as a cramp during my period. TMI? Whoops.

Leah got up and held out her hand to help me up, signaling that the conversation was over…or so I thought. I took her hand and she pulled me up really close to her and whispered, "Realistically, I'd just rip out your intestines and choke you out with them."

Well then…looks like Leah _was_ actually scary as hell, but I wasn't going to let her know that. She pulled away from me and started making her way to the beach, but I already had my threat ready. She wanted to go? Oh, we'll go. Fight me, bitch!

"I'm going to come into your house at night–because I know where you live Lee Lee, don't forget that–and slit your throat, drink your blood with a freaking straw, and cut out your organs and put them in a blender. I'm not drinking those though because that's just gross. I'll feed them to your brother instead because he eats anything…so yeah. Ha!"

Well that sounded much more intimidating in my head and Leah just kept on walking. It probably had something to do with the fact that I was almost a foot shorter than her so I probably looked like a little penguin waddling behind her spewing out threats when in reality, the only thing I could do was kill her with my cuteness, if that.

I was falling way behind her and I was a pretty fast walker, but even I couldn't keep up with her. "Hey, slow down! We can't all have the legs of an Amazonian Warrior."

I finally caught up to her and quieted down a bit as we approached the beach. I could see everyone in the distance, except this time I saw a pale girl sticking out like a sore thumb while at the same time fitting in. We were getting closer and closer when suddenly, Leah stopped walking. I turned towards her with a curious glance. "Hey, are you okay?"

She looked at me with an unfamiliar emotion burning in her eyes. "I just want to make sure you're okay. We don't have to go to this stupid bonfire, you know."

I took a glance over at the bonfire and looked as I saw the pale figure with a warm russet arm wrapped around her. I knew whose arm that was, but I didn't let my emotions show. Today was not the day to make like Elsa and let it go. "You don't have to worry about me, Lee Lee. I got this. _We_ got this."

I grabbed her hand and attempted to started skipping over to the bonfire, but I guess she wasn't feeling that bad or that generous because she pulled me back, pried my hand out of hers, and let out a "no way in hell that's happening," and continued to walk to the bonfire.

Well…I tried.

I followed behind her until we finally reached the mass of people. I said my hello to the elders and when I spotted Seth, I simply gave him a hug and whispered, "extra large," in his ear to remind him of Leah's request last night. When I looked at his face, it was redder than the fire and when Brady and Collin asked him why that was, he couldn't get out a proper answer. Leah also reminded me of the dare that I had to go through with and I decided to just rip that one off like a band-aid.

Paul was a scary looking guy and not just because he was well over six feet, but because his face constantly looked like he was sucking on a lemon and chugging down vodka. Needless to say, he was simultaneously salty and sour and he was just sitting in the corner next to Jared and Kim staring into the fire like he wanted to choke it out. I approached him and stuck my hand out. "I'm Kara."

He looked at my hand like it was diseased and replied back with, "And I don't care." Ouch. Well, two can play at that game. (It's probably a good time to mention that I have an unhealthy habit of taking everything as a challenge and turning into a game as if you couldn't tell already).

I took a seat down next to him and scooted myself closer to him. "You know, you've got a face made for radio."

He turned towards me and very menacingly said, "what?"

Stay strong, Kara.

"It's just that…you look like ten pounds of crap in a five pound bag." Ooh, nice one Kara…or at least that's what I'd think under different circumstances.

"You want to go again?" Oh, the poor guy was giving me one more chance. Too bad, I didn't know when to stop.

"That's funny. That's what your mother said to me last night." Aaaand scene.

I could feel the anticipation building in my stomach as he stared at me. It was like he was playing darts with spaghetti in his head and he couldn't make up his mind as to how to react. I was hoping he _wouldn't_ go with the punching me in the face option for insulting his probably lovely mother.

He held out his hand and said,"I'm Paul." I accepted the handshake and gave him a hundred watt , that was certainly a lot less climactic that I expected, but I wasn't going to complain.

"I know…and for the record, Leah dared me to do that. Thanks for not bitch slapping me." I know it definitely warranted a bitch slap. Yo mamma jokes can get out of hand sometimes and mothers are often the weakness of many men (and women because I'm all about equality).

"Things were getting boring around here anyways." He gave me a smirk and I would have swooned but a certain someone else's smirk made it's way into my mind and I was reminded of Plans A-C and my mission of the night. I talked to Paul for a bit more about my love for mechanics and fixing up cars and motorcycles and he told me about how him and Jacob wanted to open up a shop eventually. He also told me that if I ever had a hankering to fix something, that I could help him fix up his 1946 Harley Davidson Knucklehead and I readily agreed. I hadn't touched a bike since…the incident, but I decided to tell him that I'd think about it.

Looking around for the familiar face that I had grown quite accustomed to, I made my way back to Leah a moment later. "I don't get how you provoke him all the time. He's actually a pretty cool guy," I complained.

Sighing, Leah didn't even bother giving me a glance. "It just sorta happens. Plus, he's the only one that I can actually stand and that's only because he's one of the ones who hasn't imp–" She stopped herself and shrugged innocently. "He's one of the only ones who isn't obsessed with finding the one."

I was about to ask her what she was going to say when I saw her tap me on the shoulder and motion towards where Bella and Jacob were. Well, it was now or never. I walked up to them and turned towards Jacob. "Hey, I haven't seen you in a while."

"Sure, sure." He gave me a strained smile that turned into a genuine smile as he turned to look at Bella. "This is…Leah's friend, Kara." He motioned towards me. "I'll go get us some food, Bells. I have to show these other pups who's boss anyways." She let out a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, not unlike the sound a dog makes just before it knowingly throws up all over your favourite pair of shoes. He gave her hand a squeeze and walked away, but not without giving her one last glance and I could have sworn that he looked at me for a moment, but that was probably my heart playing tricks on me.

I didn't let my inner turmoil show as I said hello to Bella…but hello in my way. "Hello, Bella. Nice to meet you." I held out my hand for her to shake. "So…where's your boyfriend?"

Her hair glistened like a nose hair after a sneeze and she looked like a deer in headlights. "Oh, Edward is out…hunting with his family."

"Well, why didn't you want to go with him?" I gave her an innocent smile.

She smiled back uncertainly. "I wanted to spend time with Jake. We haven't had much time together lately."

"Edward is your boyfriend though, right?" Goodness knows why he's still with her.

"Yes, but I love Jacob too." Oh, no she didn't. Calm down, Kara. Maybe she loves him like a brother.

"Like a brother, right? I get it." I better get it, Richard.

She was growing more and more nervous. She finally replied with an, "it's complicated," when Jacob came back with food for the two of them.

"Are you okay, Bells?" He looked between the two of us and gave me a warning look but me being the darling yet klutzy angel I am, quelled his fears.

"Oh, everything is alri-" I felt a gust of wind and _accidentally_ got knocked off my feet only for my hands to flail and try to catch myself as I knocked the plates from Jacob's hands. "Oh, no. I'm so sorry, Jacob." I reached to help him and as our hands brushed together, I felt a shock of current.

He pulled his hand back from me and towards Bella. "I'll get us some more food." Even though that was what I wanted him to do so I could talk to Bella without his beautiful yet accusing eyes on me, I also didn't want him to go.

I felt my heart drop to my stomach and I felt like I was slowly dying…but then I felt angry. Bella was growing on him like a colony of E. Coli growing on room-temperature Canadian beef.

"You're hurting him, you know. I understand if you're in love with both of them, but you have to chose." I couldn't stop the words coming out of my mouth.

"I have chosen. I love Edward. He's my soulmate." Her eyes were defensive and her posture straightened signaling she was ready to argue with me.

"If he's your soulmate, then why are you leading Jacob on? I understand that he helped you out during a difficult time and I understand that he was your shoulder to lean on, but you have Edward back again. Why can't you just let Jacob go?" I was pleading at this point and I wasn't even sure why I felt so strongly about this.

"Jacob is my best friend and my other half. I know I hurt him and I'm trying to make up for that." She looked like she didn't even believe her words. And how the heck could Jacob be her there half if she thought of Edward as her soulmate? Her vocabulary was as bad as like, whatever. I mean, seriously! I knew that she just wanted a claim on him and how sick is that? It looks like Operation Batman is the way it's going.

"If you want to make up for that then leave him alone while he heals his heart. You make think you need him but you don't. Honestly, don't be a feminist's nightmare. You don't need him and he doesn't need you. Grow some balls, give your _actual_ boyfriend your love and devotion, and leave Jacob the hell out of this crappy love triangle you're trying to keep alive. You know that he will do anything for you, and don't even try to deny it like you're about to. You're completely taking advantage of him and disregarding how he feels just so you can keep your so called friendship together. Well, you know what? Being friends after you break someone's heart is like asking if you keep a dog after it dies."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Tears were welling up in her eyes but that just made me angrier. Why the heck is she even crying? I could tell it was just for show…it was just for Jacob. All I told her was the truth. Keep your fake emotions inside, Richard.

I could see a crowd forming around us and Jacob was making his way through that crowd with a livid look in his eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Kara?"

"I'm doing something it seems you can't do. Standing up for you." I looked at him with a fire burning in my eyes and he returned it with the same intensity.

"There's nothing to fight about." He stepped protectively in front of Bella.

"She's using you, Jacob. Can't you see that?" I tried to get through to him. I tried.

"Just shut up, alright? The only thing that I can see is Bella. I'll never see anyone else so stop trying to make it happen." Shots fired to my heart.

I stepped back from him in disbelief. "I was just trying to help, Jacob. I don't know why, but I care about you and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Yeah? Well don't. I don't want you."

 _I don't want you_. The words kept ringing in my ears.

"You both need to head over to IKEA and assemble yourselves a better attitude and some damn self-respect. While you're there, say hello to Edward, Bella's _boyfriend,_ just to remind you in case you forgot _,_ and tell him I said hello because he'll probably be there trying to assemble himself a better girlfriend." I gave them both one last death glare and turned around.

I grimaced slightly at the uncomfortable situation, but the crowd around me didn't seem to notice my awkwardness. They were giving me looks of awe and as I made my way towards Leah, Paul went so far as to give me a high five and a, "hell yeah."

I looked at Leah and tried to smile through the pain. "Wanna get out of here?"

She apprehensively returned the smile and held out her hand. "I guess we're in hell." I gave her a a look of disbelief, but gently grabbed her hand. We just started skipping away from the stares of Dick and the rest of the tribe and into the dimly lit forest…but somehow, those words wouldn't stop ringing in my head.

 _I don't want you._

Did I have attachment/abandonment issues or what?


	8. Chapter 8: Eternal Damnation

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **Sorry this chapter was so late. My mom just had a major surgery so I've been at her beck and call. I know this is a bit of a filler chapter and it's pretty short but I promise that I'll post another one within 5 days. I'm giving myself a time limit so I won't let you guys down! I think you guys will enjoy reading about the new friendship between Kara and Leah cuz they're certainly a dangerous yet hilarious combination!** **As always,** **I hope you enjoy and please leave me a review!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

Ever since I had gone through with Operation Batman, I had stayed clear of the Rez (aka the reservation). I lived in Forks so obviously it was easy enough to do and the only person I would ever step foot on the Rez for would be Leah Clearwater. Lee-Lee and I had become close friends and it had been about a week since I had told off Jacob and Richard, so she would always meet up with me in Forks. She understood my frustration with the whole situation and she knew that if I even saw Bella, that I'd probably rip her face off so there was that too!

I was currently waiting in my room for Leah to show up. The digital screen of the clock on my nightstand read 5:45pm and for a moment, I wondered why Leah was always only free after 6:00pm. I knew she was older than me considering she was 19 and she had mentioned taking classes here and there at the Community College, but other than that, I wasn't really sure what she did. It sucked that she wouldn't be joining me at La Push High when school started back up again, but I knew I'd probably just try to keep to myself or just ask Seth if I could join him and his perverted friends.

Ahh, the little Clearwater was certainly not so little (get your head out of the gutters). He was 14 but he towered over me (but then again, who doesn't?) and he was just the sweetest boy ever. Easily embarrassed and adorable and just a gem of a person.

I looked back at the flickering numbers on the clock and felt sleep take over me. I decided that I might as well close my eyes and wait until Leah showed up annoyingly on time, as per usual.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Get up, bitch! We have things to do!"

What a lovely way to be woken up. I think I'd rather take an alarm blaring or you know, a knife stabbed in my eyes. Oh, well.

I groaned and pulled my blankets to shield my eyes from the light that had so rudely been turned on. "How did you even get in my house?" I could feel the blankets being pulled off so I held on tighter.

"Your parents love me, what can I say?" She chuckled and started yanking harder and harder at the blankets.

"My parents aren't home, you idiot." I tried my best to wrap myself in a cocoon, but my resolve was breaking. Also, Leah was fucking strong.

"A key under a rock. Really?" With this, she completely ripped of the blanket which led to me falling on my very hard floor.

"I'm not saying I hate you, but I would unplug your life support to charge my phone."

"You wound me. Now, get up."

I would have just stayed on the floor but I had a feeling that Leah would just pick me up and carry me over her shoulder to wherever the hell she wanted because she's psycho and she's strong. It took a minute for the sleepiness to vanish from my system, but I managed to get myself up, give a death glare to Leah, and get ready for the day…well, night.

Seeing as anything more would have taken way too much effort on my part, I just threw on my favourite pair of black jeans, a black shirt, and my dark green army jacket. Ahhh, I'm so colourful tonight!

I went back out only to find Leah to be nowhere in sight. I thought for a moment that I was saved and I made a move towards my bed until I heard her shout, "don't you dare," from downstairs and realized that alas! I was doomed to go out into the real world tonight.

I made my way downstairs and found her leaning against the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in her hands, looking intensely down at the screen of her phone in her hands and without even looking up, she knew I was there.

"You're gonna need this," she said as she slid the the cup of coffee towards me.

"Coffee? You know I can't stand the taste." I turned my nose up in disgust. It was just too bitter for me. Bleh. Call me a weirdo, I already know.

"Your choice. We're gonna be out late tonight." She still hadn't looked up from her stupid phone.

My patience was wearing thin. "It's already 6:30pm at this point. What the hell are we going to do? Rob a bank?"

"Well…now that you mention it." She looked up and smirked at me.

"You know, there's only one problem with your face right now. I can see it." Goodness, I loved her but damn it, I was tired.

She gave me a look that said, "either I drag you into my car or you come willingly."

She walked out the door and I followed until I remembered. "Hey, you still have my key!"

She kept walking. "Yeah, and I'm keeping it."

What a bitch…but a lovable one. I made my way to the passenger door of Leah's car and swung the door open, getting inside as swiftly as possible to avoid getting my ass kicked. I reached the car before Leah, even with her long strides and she jokingly turned to me and said, "what took you so long?"

"My giant balls were weighing me down." I said in a flat tone.

"Ah, the usual," Leah deadpanned.

She started up the car and we kept the silence until we couldn't hold it in anymore. We both snickered and let the laughter out of our system and turned on the radio. Rihanna's "We Found Love in a Hopeless Place" came on, making us both put our windows down and our hands up in the air; of course, Leah's hands only stayed up briefly because if she lost control of the steering wheel, we'd both die a horrible awful death.

The ride to…well, I had no idea at the time, was no longer than ten minutes and we spent the time rocking out and dancing in our seats to more songs and I was happily distracted from my lack of sleep and from the impending doom that would be the start of school tomorrow. As soon as Leah pulled into the mall, she killed the engine and turned to face me. "So…how are you feeling?" she asked, with concern (and something else I couldn't place) evident in her eyes.

"Still with my hands, thank you," I answered truthfully.

"Okay, I deserved that," she said as she rolled her eyes, "But really, how are you feeling about tomorrow?"

"I'm…I'm not ready for it, to say the least. I feel like I'm preparing for something big..like eternal damnation or a very untimely death," I answered honestly this time.

"You'll be okay, I know it. Plus, I'm just a call away if you need help kicking anyone's ass," Leah said, a smirk growing on her face.

"The only person's ass I want to kick is yours," I countered, now wearing a smirk of my own.

"Obsessed with my ass much?" she said with a serious expression. A second later, we both burst into laughter until I felt my cheeks starting to ache and realized the absurdity of the situation.

"Hey, Lee-Lee…you know we're in the middle of a parking lot laughing maniacally at…7:00pm, right?" realizing that we probably look super suspicious.

"Let's get out then," she said as she made her way to the driver's side door but I put one of my hands on her arm to stop her.

"Wait, what are we even doing here?" I questioned.

"We're here to prepare you for the battle that is tomorrow so you can win the war," Leah said with determination in her eyes. "I know you're nervous, but you're going to kill it tomorrow. I promise. You've got more people than you think you do."

I wasn't sure what she meant by that considering she was the only person who I had really talked to, outside of telling off Jacob and Richard, witty banter with Paul (who wasn't even in high school which sucked), and embarrassing Seth, but I decided to try to let her words lift my spirit and exited the car.

At least tonight wouldn't suck.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I woke up the next morning feeling like death. Not because I got home super late or anything but just because I was dreading today. I hadn't seen Jacob in over a week now and I felt like I was sick. My heart hurt just thinking about him as did my head. Heck, I felt like my body was physically reacting to distance from him which was absolutely ridiculous considering I had only really hung out with him once after which he promptly kicked me out of his house.

I could feel the dread growing in the pit of my stomach bringing the unwanted realization that today was the day I'd start school…I silently prayed that I wouldn't see Jacob but considering La Push High was a small school, I doubted I'd be able to avoid him. I was suddenly regretting the fact that I hadn't taken my parents' offer of going to Forks High School but it was a little to late for that.

I looked at the clock and saw the flashing 6:30am on my clock signaling that I had 15 minutes to get my ass out of bed and downstairs where Leah would apparently be at 6:45. She insisted on dropping me off and picking me up for my first day of school which made her worse than my mother but at the same time, I appreciated it…not that I would tell her that.

I threw on my outfit from last night deciding that I just didn't care enough to think of what else to wear, and tugged some black combat boots on before throwing my hair up into a high ponytail and making my way downstairs. I couldn't even get myself to think about food without feeling nauseous so I just exchanged pleasantries with my parents, gave them both a hug, and went outside to wait for Leah. At precisely 6:45am, her call pulled into my driveway and I swung my bag over my shoulder and got in.

"Why would you wake up so early in the morning…and willingly too?" I whined to her. No pleasantries were exchanged.

"It's only 6:45am," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Exactly my point, woman," I said, still moody due to the haze of sleep still hanging over my head and the sense of impending doom looming in the air. "Now, shut up and drive."

The drive to school was only five minutes but Leah insisted on me being early on my first day, so to prolong time, I decided to ask Leah for a pep talk.

"You're pretty fucking awesome. Keep that shit up. You're badass bitch, so stay that way." she said with a straight face.

"That's it?" I looked at her with disbelief. "I need more than that, Lee-Lee!"

She just smirked in response.

"Thanks for that boost of confidence," I replied sarcastically and made a face at Leah as she continued to have that stupid little smirk. "I would so like to punch that look off of your face…I wouldn't hesitate for a moment if I didn't have to go right now," I declared.

"Aww, your attempt at violence is adorable," she cooed, still not having wiped that stupid smirk off of her face.

"I would like to leave you with one last thought…but I'm not sure you'd have anywhere to put it," I said having a smirk of my own. I gave her an awkward half hug and made my way out of the car. Before I closed the passenger side door, I looked back at Leah. "Here's to hoping I don't murder anyone today," I said with a mischievous yet worried look in my eyes.

"Don't worry, babe. I'd bail you out," she said trying to quell my anxiety.

"You really _are_ in love with me, aren't you, Lee-Lee?" And at that, I slammed the door and hightailed it out of there before she could mouth me off with her very imaginative curse words.

Well…today is gonna be just peachy, isn't it?


	9. Chapter 9: My First Day in Hell (Part 1)

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **Here is another chapter as promised! I decided to cut this chapter a bit short because I decided that I liked the cliffhanger at the end of this part too much (I'm evil like that). However, I'll only be posting the next chapter only when I get at least two more follows of me as an author or of my story and at least two reviews of any chapter (preferably this one), so click those follow buttons and leave me a review! Any feedback is appreciated! Again, I hope you enjoy and please leave me a review!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

I watched as Leah's car peeled away. After two and a half months of freedom, it was finally time for me to return to the hell that was school. Soon, I'd find myself sitting amongst a sea of new faces with me probably being the _only_ damn new kid at the school. There weren't usually many newcomers to the Rez therefore and everyone generally knew each other or at least knew of each other so I was basically just fresh meat and I hated the fact that I'd most likely be the centre of attention today. So not what I wanted.

I looked down at my phone and realized that it was already 7:00am at this point so I had about 15 minutes to get my schedule and locker combination and figure my shit out. With a groan, I made my way through the parking lot and into the corridors of doom. I could feel eyes watching me and things being whispered about me so I just put my ass in gear and hightailed it into the main office.

There was a kind looking lady at the front desk, so I decided to dust off those social skills that I'd thrown to the back of the closet in order to get my schedule. "Excuse me, ma'am."

No response…well maybe, I should be louder.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I said with a little bit more sound.

The lady finally looked up and raised her eyebrows a bit at me. "Oh, I'm sorry dear. Nobody usually comes in here. What can I help you with, sweetheart?" she said apologetically.

I smiled reassuringly back at her. "No problem. I'm actually new here and I just wanted to pick up my schedule and my locker information and anything else I needed."

"Oh, a new student! We haven't had one of those in years. How lovely!" she gushed. She typed rapidly on her computer and scanned through the content on the screen. "Zaana Kara Zanders, is it?"

I winced at hearing my first name. It brought a wave of memories that I just wasn't ready for and I could feel the pain of the past slowly tugging on my heart. "Just Kara Zanders. Zaana Zanders is a bit on the nose, don't you think?" I said, trying to not show the battle that was going on inside me.

"Well, I think it's a beautiful name, dear," she said as she looked up again at me. "But whatever you'd like." She fixed my name in the system and she handed me my class schedule, locker information, and gave me a little map of the school. "Good luck, dear, and have a wonderful first day!"

I thanked her and made my way to locker number 1208. I opened it tried to hide behind it a bit as I put my books in because I noticed just how out of place I was here. I was the first new student in years? These hallways felt so unfamiliar and I found myself missing my old school but I stopped myself from thinking about that. One of the reasons we even moved was to help me move on. My parents were still having trouble as well but it was me that couldn't seem to let go of the past.

I looked at the time again and saw that I had about 3 minutes to get to my homeroom. Looking at my schedule, I saw that I had homeroom with Mrs. Miller, AP Spanish with Mrs. Gomez, AP Music Theory with Mr. Leavell, and AP Psychology with Mr. Jones. After that, I'd have lunch and I'd be forced to consult this small piece of paper yet again. I looked up again and realized that most of the people in the halls had dispersed which only left a few people who didn't bother to spare me a glance as they too made their way to homeroom. I found Mrs. Miller's classroom with ease and tried to make my quietly to no avail. I made my way to take a seat, but the young teacher didn't seem to notice my unease.

The bell rang and she shushed the students as she made her way to the front of the classroom. "We have a new student today and her name is Kara." She made a gesture to signal me to come and introduce myself to the class. "Tell us a bit about yourself, Kara. And as for everyone else, please make her feel at home."

"Oh, I'll make her feel at home alright," a cheeky boy from the back of the room muttered.

I felt my cheeks redden at the remark as Mrs. Miller looked disapprovingly at the boy. "Don't think I didn't hear that, Robert. Say anything again like that and I'll call your mother," she said chastising him. Apparently she had the ears of a bat because I had barely heard that comment but I was thankful for her stepping in and saving me from further embarrassment. She looked back towards me and nodded at me for further encouragement to introduce myself.

I awkwardly turned to face the class and as I did, I took some time to actually look at the people in front of me. I realized that I recognized two of the boys from the bonfire. I think their names were Embry and Quil, so I tried to focus my attention on what was most familiar as I made my introduction. After my spat with Jacob, I thought they might give me scathing looks, but what I received from them were smiles and mischief in their eyes. "Hi. I'm Kara Zanders and I consider myself to be a Bay Stater or a Massachusettsan. I'm 16 years old, I like long walks on the beach, and words really can't describe how much I hate when you have to introduce yourself to a whole group of people even though everyone already knows each other," I rapidly spit out causing quite a few stunned heads to break into laughter.

After that, everyone introduced themselves to me and said there hello's before making their ways back to their friends. Just like that, I was out of the spotlight or at least, that's what it looked like. Nobody was staring at me but the unmistakable sound of a camera clicking away came from some of the girls and boys who either blushed or fumbled around with their phone when I shot them a look. Apparently, I was a bit of a celebrity here, which was something I wasn't looking forward to. I didn't want to call much attention to myself but apparently the resident paparazzi wasn't having any of that.

There were three main groups in the class being the girls, the boys, and the Embry and Quil. I decided to take a risk and approach the familiar faces…a paradox, isn't it? Taking a risk to approach a familiar face. Anyways, I was glad when they met me halfway. One of them, Embry, I think it was, boldly slung his arm around my shoulder. "You told off my best man, Jake the other day. That took some major balls, KZ. Can I call you that? Well, I'm gonna call you that anyways." He continued on and confirmed his identity. "I'm Embry by the way, and the mopey one over there is Quil," he said as he gestured to a very melancholy looking Quil.

"I'm not mopey. I just miss–"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. You miss your little Claire bear. I get it. We all get it. Blah blah blah," Embry droned on.

The melancholy look on Quil's face changed to an annoyed one. "Oh, shut up, Embry. At least I have an imp–," he said until he took a sharp breath. "One. At least I have one. All you have is your hand and some magazines."

I was slightly confused but by the look on Embry's slightly red face, I had a pretty good idea of what they were talking about. I turned to Quil. "Is Claire your girlfriend?"

"No she's just…a friend," he replied with caution.

I could understand that. He was in love with someone who didn't love him. "Well, I'm sure that with time, she'll realize what a great guy you are," I said reassuringly.

Embry only smirked at that. "Yeah, Quil. With time…a lot of time."

Quil punched him in the arm for that and Embry removed his arm from me as he defended himself. They both played around for a bit until Quil got Embry in a headlock and Embry started screaming, "Uncle!" at the top of his lungs. Mrs. Miller gave them a death glare, and they both turned back to me.

Quil was the first to speak this time. "So, Kara, what classes do you have next?" I pulled out my schedule and compared it to Quil and Embry's only to realize that I had at least one of them, if not both of them in all of my classes before lunch today. Both of them were in my AP Psychology class, Embry was in my AP Spanish class and Quil was in my AP Music Theory class. That knowledge gave me the relief I needed because now I knew that I wouldn't be completely alone to face the off-putting stares of my peers.

The bell rang signaling the end of homeroom, which gave me five minutes to get to Mrs. Gomez's classroom for AP Spanish. I looked at Embry for guidance because it may have been easy to find the way here, but I had no idea as to where Mrs. Gomez's room was. He held out his elbow for me to loop my arm under and he pointed to the door. "Vamanos, chica!" he exclaimed and then he turned to Quil. "She likes me better, loser."

And on that note, he started skipping out of the room, pulling me along with him as I sent a helpless look to Quil that said something along the lines of, "save me from this huge and towering ball of energy that is Embry before he kills me with kindness first," or at least that's what I thought my look meant.

Quil just smirked as I was whisked away by Embry. "You'll survive. I'll save you after class, don't worry. Have fun hanging out with your favourite person!" he said giving me a fake enthusiastic smile

I tried to give him the finger but Embry just ended up picking me up and hoisting me over his shoulder as he complained that I was "taking too long."

Well…at least I wouldn't be alone in hell.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I had successfully made it through half of the day. It was finally time for lunch and I was so nervous that I couldn't even fathom the idea of eating. AP Psych was definitely my favourite class so far more so because Embry and Quil kept on fighting over who could make the best puns /jokes during class which was just even more hilarious. For example:

We were talking about Freud and Embry whispers to me and Quil, "Interested in my psychosexual development? I'm ready for you to envy this penis, girl." Quit started choking (get your mind out of the gutters, people) after that and I had to hit his back a couple of times and let him take a swig of my water to calm him down even though I was trying not to die of laughter.

Another time, we were talking about Phineas Gage and Quil muttered about how he used to be nice until an accident took an iron rod to his left frontal lobe. Along with that, when we were talking about Pavlov and Mr. Jones asked if anyone had heard of him, Quil raised his hand and said, "it rings a bell and it makes my mouth water," and started making some dog noises which was pretty hilarious.

Even I joined in on the fun and made some subtle puns here and there but I tried not to call too much attention to myself, which was hard considering Embry and Quil were basically the centre of attention and I was stuck in between the two of them. When the Oedipus complex was mentioned, I whispered something about how he was the original mother fucker. Back when we were talking about Freud and Mr. Jones asked if anyone had heard of him, I whispered, "I'm a-Freud not," and got a chuckle out of Embry and Quil. We moved on to talking to Freudian slips and just before the bell rang to signal the end of class, I managed to throw one last pun/joke in there. "When you say one thing but mean your mother."

On that note, we made our way out of class and I told Embry and Quil I'd look for them at their table after I put some stuff in my locker. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief when they finally separated themselves from me and I made my way to my locker. They were amazing and all, but I wasn't used to this much attention and it took so much energy out of me socializing. It reminded me how I was never really the socializing one, but if I dwelled too much on that, then I would end up thinking about the past yet again. I slammed my locker shut and made my way to the lunch room. La Push High was a small school but it had enough people to make me feel uncomfortable. Luckily, I was able to spot Embry and Quil very quickly considering they towered over the rest of the population.

Not so luckily, they were sitting with a group of other giant boys including, yep, you guessed it right, Jacob Black.

Well, fuck me.


	10. Chapter 10: I Want You

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **Some of you will like this chapter and some of you will hate it. I hope it's not moving too fast and not too slow, but let me know what you guys think of this chapter (especially the ending hehehe)! Also, let me know if this chapter is too short or too long or just right because I'm still trying to figure out the right length for chapters. I'll only be posting the next part only when I get at least three more follows of me as an author or of my story and at least three more reviews of any chapter (preferably this one), so click those follow buttons and leave me a review! I feel bad for bribing/blackmailing you guys into following and reviewing, but it really helps me out a lot as an author. Don't forget anonymous reviews are a thing and constructive criticism is appreciated, but please try to keep it nice and civil! Any feedback is appreciated! I hope you enjoy and please leave me a review! (Sorry about this super long Author's note haha)**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

This was the point of no return.

Embry and Quil had already seen me and they were waving erratically at me from across the lunchroom which not only signaled the entire lunchroom to look at what (or rather, who) they were waving at, but it also signaled to everyone at the table to look at who they were frantically waving at, including (you guessed it again) Jacob Black.

Well, fuck me…again.

I had two options at this point. Option 1 being sucking it up, walking over there, and trying my best not to be a _complete_ bitch which meant backhanded compliments and maximum pettiness rather than outright bitchiness and option 2: Running out into the street, getting "hit" by a car, faking my death, and assume a new identity. I was heavily leaning towards option 2 at this point because I'd get to skip the embarrassment and heavy tension that was to follow if I were to sit down at the table (and of course, I was a bit of a drama queen).

I took a deep breath and started dragging my feet towards the table. Embry and Quil had finally stopped their ridiculous attention getting waving and had made a spot for me in between both of them. I was glad that I wouldn't have to sit next to Jacob, but at the same time, I would have to sit in his direct line of view which wasn't really any better. I guess I'd just have to deal with it. After all, there were only 40 minutes left in lunch time and then I'd get to go to classes and avoid more social interaction.

"Meh…option 1 it is," I muttered under my breath.

Embry looked at me weirdly. "Option 1? What are you talking about?"

Well shit. I started blushing furiously as I tried to stutter out some sort of explanation "Oh, umm…," I said trying to think of an excuse. "I meant option 1 as in I'd rather die from extreme heat rather than extreme cold temperatures ," I said trying to change the subject. Apparently it worked. Goodness, that was literally the worst save ever so either they're just stupid or just too trusting…or I'm a great liar, but I knew that wasn't true.

Quil heard what I was saying and turned towards me. "Why are you even thinking about that?" he exclaimed.

Umm…think, think, think. Oh! "I was just reading _Fire and Ice_ by Robert Frost and I know it's symbolically likening fire with desire and ice with hate, but I was trying to think about it in literal terms. I think a cold death would be wonderful because you'd be uncomfortable at the start, but eventually you'd go numb and drift to sleep. I think it would be more peaceful than extreme heat…but of course, we'll never truly know which is less painful because no ethics community is going to approve the experiments needed to find that information."

"…so these are the things you think about then?" Embry asked as he looked at me weirdly with Quil soon mimicking his expression.

"Yep, pretty much," I said, causing them to grin at my bluntness. "Now, gimme some of your fries," I said as I grabbed a couple of fries from each of their plates.

At this point, I had almost forgotten about the rest of the people around us because I was in my own little world that only included Embry, Quil, and me. But of course, it didn't last for long. Nothing good ever does.

"So, what are you doing tonight, Kara?" Embry asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He cast Quil a look from the corner of his eye and it looked like they were having a silent battle, but ultimately Embry won.

"Lemme check my schedule." I pulled out my planner and pretended to read off of it." 4:00 wallow in self-pity, 4:30 stare into the abyss, 5:00 solve world hunger (tell no one), 5:30 jazzercise, 6:30 dinner with me (I can't cancel that _again_ ), and 7:00 wrestle with my self-loathing." I looked back up at Embry and gave him a serious expression. "I guess I'm booked."

The lovable giant threw his arms up in despair. "Now, who am I going to be miserable with? But wait, did you say you're wrestling with your self-loathing at 7:00? We can loathe ourselves together! And then we can loathe each other! What do you say?" he cried dramatically as Quil rolled his eyes.

"I suppose so!" I said imitating his erratic hand gestures. "What about Quil though?" I questioned, considering he hadn't mentioned the gentle giant sitting next to us.

It was apparently Embry's turn to blush. "Oh, well…it would just be you and me."

"Like a date?" I said timidly, also trying to control the heat that was slowly taking over my face.

Everyone at the table looked over at us after hearing the word, "date." I tried to avoid the gaze of a certain someone because I could feel his stare on me, but I kept my eyes forward on Embry. The time seemed to go by so slowly as I was waiting for his answer but I found myself not able to look at him anymore. My phone buzzed, so I looked down at it quickly and what I saw filled me with relief. It was a message from Quil.

 **From: Quil aka The Gentle Giant**

 **To: Kara**

 **Just go with it. He's not actually asking you out on a date. Don't worry, little bear. All will be revealed in time.**

I looked back up at Quil and sent him a quick wink and turned back to Embry. "Why, I'd be honoured to go on a date with you, Em. I'd love that," I said grinning back at him. He grinned back at me and we just stared goofily at each other until we were rudely interrupted.

"No," said a quiet voice. I looked at the others to see who had said it. The only other people at the table were Jared, Kim, Seth, Brady, Collin, and _him_. It was clearly a male voice so it couldn't have been Kim, and no way was it Jared. The voice was too low to be Seth, Brady, or Collin, which only left-

"No," Jacob repeated, louder than before. He looked dangerously calm. He looked up sharply at Embry and then back at me and repeated that horrendous word yet again. "No."

I was fuming. All I could see was red. "No? Excuse me, no? Who the hell are you to tell me what I can and cannot do? No? You can take that 'no" and shove it up your ass, Jacob Black." I turned to look at Embry and Quil and they had smirks on their face, so I decided to yell at them too. Why not at this point, right? The damn bastards. "What're you two so happy about? Huh? You better stop smirking unless you want me to wipe those smirks off of your faces myself." I looked at everyone else and they were just staring back and forth between Jacob and me, as if they were watching a tennis match. It annoyed me even more.

Jacob had yet to say anything in response to my little outburst so I decided to egg him on some more, either because I was an idiot, because I was defending myself and angry, or both…probably both. I got up from my seat and stood up in front of him so we would be at eye level. It angered me even more that I could only be eye level with him sitting down and me standing up, so I let out an angry huff. "You can't just pick and choose when you want to talk to me and when you want to be a part of my life and who I get to hang out with and who I don't, okay? If I wanna go out with Embry, I can. If I wanna make out with Embry, I can. Hell, if I want to make love to Embry, I can. And guess what? You have absolutely NO say in that. Get it? Got it? Good," I managed to get out. I was breathless by the time I was finished with my rant, and I made my way to turn when I suddenly felt my world shifting.

Suddenly everything turned upside down and I was moving…but my legs weren't moving. Was I falling? But if I was falling, then how was I moving forward? I could see an upside down Embry and Quil slowly getting farther and farther away when I suddenly realized… "JACOB BLACK. YOU PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT," I screamed. The audacity that this idiot had. He had slung me over his freaking shoulder and now he was just carrying me out of the lunch room as I was kicking and screaming to no avail. This bitch…

We were out of the school at this point which pissed me off even more because not only was my lunch period ruined, but at this point, I was sure that I was going to miss the rest of my classes for the day. How did I know? Probably because the idiotic giant continued lugged me over his shoulder, plopped me down in his 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit, and proceeded to drive.

Strangely, I felt safe being with him and I knew he wasn't going to chop me into little pieces and scatter my remains in the woods, but I was still uneasy. We hadn't had any interactions in weeks, and now he suddenly cared? I mean, it all stemmed from Embry asking me out on a date…but why would he even care? He had Bella…ugh, just thinking of her made me want to punch something…and I already wanted to punch Jacob to begin with.

I turned my bitchiness up a notch and glared at him. "So, how have the first 5 hours without Bella been? I'm assuming you watched her when she was sleeping?" I scathingly asked. I was going to show no mercy.

Normally, he wasn't one for petty comebacks, but this time he seemed unable to stop himself from saying, "I have managed. How have the first 5 minutes without Embry been?"

 _Well played, Jacob._ Damn it, I was supposed to be spiteful not impressed with his quick wit. "I've managed," I said keeping my anger under control. "So…why the hell did you drag me away from my food and from my friends again? I'm really interested in what you have to say," I said sarcastically.

His hands gripped the wheel even harder. I took a peek outside and saw the trees blurring by. "Where are we even going, Jacob? Seriously, what the hell?" I exclaimed.

After what felt like a long period of silence, he finally said something. Of course, what came out of his mouth just pissed me off even more. "You're not going on a date with Embry. You're not kissing him, and you're most definitely not…not having _sex_ with him," he replied keeping his voice steady. I heard him whisper under his breath, but I didn't hear what he said. I could see how furious he was but it looked like his resolve was slowly breaking.

"Again, why do you care what I do and who I do it with? You've made it very clear that you want nothing to do with me. Plus, you're hopelessly in love with Bella, so why are you even giving insignificant little me who figuratively pales in comparison to her a glance? Hmmm? If I wanna sex it up with Embry I can. Hell, if I want to sex it up with Paul, I will! In fact, I think I'll do just that when–"

I was cut off. He abruptly stopped the car on the side of the road and got out. He came over to the passenger side of the door, swiftly unbuckled my seatbelt, and stood me up. He closed the door and put his hands on both sides of my head to box me in. There was no escape.

"I'm only going to say this once," he said with a mix of rage and some other unidentifiable emotion in his eyes. "You are not Embry's. You are not Paul's. You are not anyone's but _mine_."

My response was immediate. "Oh, hell no. I'm not anybody's. I don't belong to anyone. I am my own person," I shot back. "Plus, you have Bella," I bitterly reminded him, not able to look him in the eye.

He took one of his hands and propped my chin up so I was looking in his eyes again. "I don't want Bella," he said looking pained. "What you said was right. You were right. I was never in love with her…I was just in love with the idea of her. I'm not anymore," he said gazing into the very depths of my soul.

My mind was trying to process everything he was saying. "Then what do you want, Jacob? Just tell me what you want and leave me alone," I said breathlessly.

"I want you."

I froze at his words…and on that note, I kicked him in the balls and ran into the forest without bothering to look back.

I was in deep shit this time.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

 **Just a reminder that it has been 1-2 weeks since Jacob has seen Kara and a lot have things have changed for him in that time. The next chapter will be in his POV so you'll understand what the heck happened to make him open up his mind to new possibilities aka Kara. Let's just say that imprinting affects you both physically and emotionally ;)**


	11. Chapter 11: Mine

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **Here's an early New Year's gift for all of you readers out there! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Hopefully this makes the last chapter make more sense because it gives you more background information on what exactly changed Jacob's mind. As an anonymous reader pointed out, it wouldn't be fair to current readers to post chapters based on people favoriting/following my story and me as an author. I'll be posting new chapters every week, but I'll post them sooner if I get 3+ new comments! Just remember that the feedback you leave me helps when writing and I definitely take your opinions into consideration! I hope you enjoy the story and have a Happy New Year!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

JACOB'S POV

Even though she had knocked the plates out of my hands, I couldn't bring myself to be angry at her. I was on the edge with her talking to Bella, but it seemed innocent enough. I went back to get some more food for us and bumped into Leah on the way. She must have been in an extra bitchy mood today.

"Watch it, Black," she hissed as she reached over me for some food.

"That time of the month again, Leah?" I asked calmly with a smirk on my face. "Or are you just being your normal pleasant self? I can't tell."

"You better not hurt her, Black," said Leah as she walked past me and made her way to sit down on a log near the fire.

"Hurt her? Why would I hurt Bella?" I asked curiously following her. "I'd never do that."

"You idiot," she began. "I do not, nor will I ever care about Bella Swan. She's a stuck up, attention seeking bitch who sweet-talks everyone and manipulates people into getting her own way. She pretends to be all innocent when she's really just fucking up everyone's lives. I'm talking about, Kara. You hurt her and I kill you. No regrets."

"Don't talk about Bella like that," I responded angrily. All I could see was red.

"Then grow some balls and realize what you have in front of you. Not Bella, but Kara. You pride yourself on being smart, don't you?" she asked. When I didn't answer, she nodded for me. "Yes, you do. And when you realized that when you thought you had a chance with Bella and Kara came into the picture, you immediately pushed her away. It's completely understandable but irrational."

I glowered at her. "Well, at least I have someone who loves me. Bella loves me. That's more than I can say about you," I responded back heatedly.

She gave me a hard glare, but I could see my words got to her. "She loves the bloodsucker. She'll never love you the way you want her to," she snapped back at me. With that, she got up from her seat and stormed away from me, probably trying to get as far away as she could.

I went back to the table to get the food for Bella and me. I packed food on the plates unconsciously as I thought about what Leah said. It bothered me that she was _right_. Her hatred of Bella was justified and the way she described everyone, especially me, holding Bella up to a pedestal was correct. It was a great injury to my pride that Leah of all people was right, but I still held on to the hope that Bella would wake up and realize that I was the one for her. The fates must have messed up when they made me imprint on Kara because Bella was the one for me…wasn't she? She had to be. I had love her ever since I first saw her when we were kids–ever since we played in the mud together. That love couldn't just go to waste.

I'll prove them all wrong. I'll prove that I can reject the imprint. I'll prove that Bella is in love with me and not that bloodsucker. I balanced the plates on my arm and made my way over to Bella when I noticed a crowd had formed around her. I could hear Kara's voice raising and I pushed through the crowd. Shit, Bella was crying? Damn it.

I turned towards Kara with a newfound anger. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Kara?"

My anger only seemed to fuel her anger. ""I'm doing something it seems you can't do. Standing up for you," she responded furiously.

I stepped in front of Bella to protect her from Kara's words, but I couldn't help notice how right it felt to stand closer to Kara. "There's nothing to fight about."

"She's using you, Jacob. Can't you see that?" she said hopelessly.

That's what Leah had said. I looked around and noticed that the pack agreed with what she said. Deep in my heart, I knew what she said was right, but I wasn't about to tell her that. Bella and I had a history, and I couldn't just forget about that. "Just shut up, alright. The only thing I can see is Bella. I'll never see anyone else so stop trying to make it happen," I shot back. The words felt bitter as they came out of my mouth but I didn't stop there.

She took a step back in shock. "I was just trying to help, Jacob. I don't know why, but I care about you and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Yeah? Well don't. I don't want you," I lied.

I looked at her heartbroken face and I felt my pulse get quicker. I was about to take back what I said but she spoke first. "You both need to head over to IKEA and assemble yourselves a better attitude and some damn self-respect. While you're there, say hello to Edward, Bella's _boyfriend,_ just to remind you in case you forgot _,_ and tell him I said hello because he'll probably be there trying to assemble himself a better girlfriend," she said before giving Bella one last glare and walking away.

I started making my way towards her so I could attempt to apologize but I was cut off by a whimpering voice. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Jake. Can you take me home now?"

I turned around and looked into Bella's brown eyes. I never noticed how dull they were. They didn't have golden flakes in them or tinges of green. They were just…plain brown. No life in them. I looked back at where Kara used to be only to notice that I was too late.

She was already gone.

I turned back again towards Bella. "Sure, sure. I'll take you home," I said distractedly. At this point, all I could think of what a huge mistake I had made. I was a damn idiot is what I was. _I don't want you._

What a huge fat lie.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

It had been over a week since I'd seen Kara. After I had dropped Bella off at home, I immediately went for a run since it was my turn to patrol for the night anyways. I was greeted by the very pleasant thoughts of Paul.

 _You're an asshole, Black,_ thought Paul.

 _Coming from you? That's gold, Paul. Shut up,_ I replied back.

 _Fine. If you don't want her, I'll gladly have her. She's a woman after my own heart. Plus, she's easy on the eyes. I mean, have you seen her ass? And those–_

I cut him off before he could finish that thought. I lunged at him and managed to get in a few good swipes before he bit down on my shoulder.

 _Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you didn't want her?_

I shook him off my back and managed to get the upper hand as I pinned him down firmly. I placed my teeth around his neck and bit down lightly to force him into submission.

 _Of course I want her, damn it. She was made for me._

I felt Paul stop fighting back so I pulled my jaw away from his neck and raised my head to look at him. I replayed my conversation with Leah in my head for him to see and then responded.

 _I was going to run after her…but I couldn't leave Bella alone._

 _You have to let Richard go,_ Paul thought.

 _What? What the fuck? Richard? Who the fuck is Richard?_ , I thought curiously.

Paul tensed. _Never mind. That's besides the point. Look, just forget about the bloodsucker. Forget about all of them. Focus on Kara. Focus on your imprint. You've dug yourself into a deep hole and with her attitude, you're going to have your work cut out for you for the rest of your life, Black._

Rest of my life with Kara? _That doesn't sound so bad,_ I thought, finally releasing Paul.

 _Yeah, for now. But good luck getting her on your side again,_ he thought before shifting back.

I was left alone with my own thoughts after that. Leah was supposed to be patrolling with me tonight, but I hadn't seen her since the bonfire so I had a feeling I'd be patrolling alone. I inwardly berated myself at what had gone down today because not only did I piss of Leah and the rest of the pack, but I made my imprint feel like shit. I felt awful.

I had to be more careful around Kara if I wanted her to let her guard down. She probably thought I hated her and that I loved Bella.

I didn't love Bella though…not really. I finally realized that I had always just loved the idea of her; the idea of being in love. But of course, I had to be myself and fuck it up when it was right in front of me. Good going, Black.

Ugh. I decided to stop by Kara's house during Patrol when another voice popped up in my thoughts.

 _Don't you fucking dare, Jacob Black._

Well I was in deep shit. _Leah, I–_

 _Don't say another word. Just leave her alone._

 _I need to–_

 _Leave. Her. Alone._

 _Leah, I–_

 _I know,_ she thought with a little more sympathy _…but give her some space. You really messed up this time, Black,_ she thought, reverting back to her usual cold demeanor.

 _I know,_ I thought. _I know._

 _OoOoOoOoOoOoO_

It had been over a week since I'd seen her. Every time I was about to make my way over to her house either during patrol or just in general, someone from the pack would stop me (usually Leah). After she had told me off, the pack had all taken a liking to her. I was proud that she stood up to me but I wanted to apologize. I needed to…I needed to explain myself to her and I needed to make her understand.

Time was finally on my side again as today was the first day of school. I knew I'd see her today and I was just counting down the seconds. I racked my brain for an idea to see her before lunch but unless she was in one of my classes, there was no way I'd see her. La Push High was by no means a big school, but I had a feeling she'd be able to easily avoid me. She seemed like a quick thinker and although she wasn't quick on her feet, she seemed perfectly capable of being able to sneakily avoid me.

My classes passed by in a blur and by the time lunch came around, I was more than disappointed. I had been feeling like shit for the past week or two and every time I closed my eyes, the image of her was seared into my eyelids. I had recently started throwing up, and that paired with my recent loss in appetite wasn't exactly pleasant. I guess I deserved it for what I did to my imprint, but I couldn't deal with it anymore. I needed to see her.

I sat down at the lunch table and waited. I spotted Embry and Quil walk into the lunchroom and I could feel my hope rising. They sat down and I immediately bombarded them with questions. "Have you guys seen her? Is she here today? Do you have classes with her? How can I get her to sit here?"

They looked at each other and then back at me and responded simultaneously. "Dude, calm down."

I shot them both a glare. "I need to see her."

"Turn around," replied Quil.

I turned around and my breath was taken away. Just like that, I felt better. Just seeing her made my heart race and my hands started feeling clammy. I could feel my body slowly repairing itself and I could feel my health slowly being restored the more I looked at her. It's like I finally felt whole again. I could see her talking to Embry and Quil but I didn't pay attention until I heard something that sounded oddly like Embry asking _my Kara_ out on a date.

The bastard was blushing. "Oh, well…it would just be you and me."

I glanced at my imprint and noticed the blood rushing to her cheeks. That should be me she's blushing for. "Like a date?" she asked innocently. She took a moment to look down at her lap and then looked up and responded with more confidence. "Why, I'd be honoured to go on a date with you, Em. I'd love that," she said grinning at Embry. He grinned back at her and quickly sent me a wink.

Before I could even stop myself, I let out a soft "no." I glared at Embry and saw that him and Quil could barely contain their laughter. They were messing with me but Kara…she said yes to a date with Embry. "No," I repeated again, this time louder than the last. No way in hell was Kara going on a date with anyone other than me from now on. Her past was her past, but _I_ was her future and _she_ was mine.

I looked at Embry and then back at Kara. "No," I said calmly, even though I was fuming silently on the inside.

My little spitfire turned towards me and all hell broke lose from her. "No? Excuse me, no? Who the hell are you to tell me what I can and cannot do? No? You can take that 'no" and shove it up your ass, Jacob Black." She then turned to Embry and Quil and chastised them like a mother chastising her two children. "What're you two so happy about? Huh? You better stop smirking unless you want me to wipe those smirks off of your faces myself."

At this point, the rest of the pack members at the table were just switching back and forth from looking at her and me, waiting for the next words to be exchange. I had yet to respond to her, but she went off again to finish her rant and turned back towards me. "You can't just pick and choose when you want to talk to me and when you want to be a part of my life and who I get to hang out with and who I don't, okay? If I wanna go out with Embry, I can. If I wanna make out with Embry, I can. Hell, if I want to make love to Embry, I can. And guess what? You have absolutely NO say in that. Get it? Got it? Good," she said hotly before turning around and beginning to walk away from me.

Sex with _Embry_? Did she really just say that? I couldn't even control my anger as I stood up, scooped her up over my shoulder in one quick swoop, and made my way out of the lunch room. The heat from her skin and the rhythm of her heart were enough to keep me from phasing, but I couldn't stop the images that came to mind from what she said. I ignored her screams and her cute attempts at trying to stop me from taking her as I made it my mission to take her as far away from Embry as possible.

I carefully placed her into the passenger seat of my precious 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit, put her seatbelt on, and pressed on the gas. I drove and drove, trying to calm myself down and trying to stop myself from thinking of the most painful ways to kill one of my best friends. The tension in the air was so thick that it couldn't be cut by a chainsaw, but my little spitfire managed to ignore that and be her sassy and sarcastic self. "So, how have the first 5 hours without Bella been? I'm assuming you watched her when she was sleeping?" she asked angrily.

Oh, if only she knew "I have managed. How have the first 5 minutes without Embry been?" I said bitterly.

"I've managed," she said. "So…why the hell did you drag me away from my food and from my friends again? I'm really interested in what you have to say," she said sarcastically.

I gripped on to the steering wheel. Her friends? She means Embry, who she apparently wouldn't mind making love to…I should be making love to her. I should be the only one to love her like that.

"Where are we even going, Jacob? Seriously, what the hell?" she said raising her voice at me.

What the hell? Well, let's see. You are my world. You are what tethers me to this earth and you just said you wouldn't mind going on a date with my now ex-best friend and that it isn't my business if you want to sex it up with him. What the hell? Yeah, what the hell. "You're not going on a date with Embry. You're not kissing him, and you're most definitely not…not having sex with him," I replied calmly. "You're my imprint. You're mine," I added whisper under my breath inaudibly.

She started ranting on again. "Again, why do you care what I do and who I do it with? You've made it very clear that you want nothing to do with me. Plus, you're hopelessly in love with Bella, so why are you even giving insignificant little me who figuratively pales in comparison to her a glance? Hmmm? If I wanna sex it up with Embry I can. Hell, if I want to sex it up with Paul, I will! In fact, I think I'll do just that when–"

I couldn't take it anymore. I steered the car towards the side of the road and slammed on the brakes as I got out of the car as quickly as possible. I stomped over to her side of the door, gently unbuckled her seatbelt, got her out of the car, and boxed her in against the car.

"I'm only going to say this once," I said feeling myself shake. I could control the phasing only because I was looking into her mesmerizing eyes and because I knew that she was with me and _not_ Embry…speaking of which. "You are not Embry's. You are not Paul's. You are not anyone's but _mine_."

She responded immediately. ""Oh, hell no. I'm not anybody's. I don't belong to anyone. I am my own person. Plus, you have Bella," she replied back bitterly, tearing her eyes away from me and looking down at her shoes.

 _Bella_. I hadn't even given her a second thought since the night of the bonfire. I looked at her dejected face and I could feel the sadness and frustration rolling off of her in waves. I lifted one of my hands and took her chin in my hand so I could look into her eyes again. "I don't want Bella," I said, painfully realizing just how much I had hurt Kara."What you said was right. You were right. I was never in love with her…I was just in love with the idea of her. I'm not anymore," I said, hoping to quell her fears. I wanted her to trust me. I knew this was a lot to take in and I knew it was sudden, but I was hoping she'd understand.

"Then what do you want, Jacob? Just tell me what you want and leave me alone," she asked defeatedly.

Silly little imprint. _My silly little imprint_. "I want you."

She froze at my words and I thought she was thinking about what I had said. I thought she would understand.

I thought wrong.

In a matter of milliseconds, I was on the ground clutching at my family jewels and she was sprinting away from me. If I thought she looked good standing in front of me, then she sure looked great running away from me.

Well, shit. Paul was right. I definitely have my work cut out for me.


	12. Chapter 12: Love Triangle

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **I hope you guys are excited to read this chapter! On a more important note, in terms of the wolf pack, I know in the books they can only communicate in wolf form and that their thoughts can be seen/heard by all of the pack, but in my version, I've decided that they can communicate voluntarily in human form my sending out thoughts. I hope you enjoy the story and please leave a review if you like the story! Also, let me know if you think I should write a future chapter from Leah's point of view!**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

 _Run, Forrest, Run!_ was all I could think as I propelled myself forward, trying to get as far away as possible from the crazy demon that was Jacob Black. I wasn't a particularly fast runner by any means nor did I have great stamina, but somehow that didn't matter. I could feel the trees whizzing past me and although my heart was racing, the adrenaline aided me in pushing myself further and further. I had been running for my life (literally) for a solid 5 minutes when I started to slow down.

I raked a hand through my hair and tried my hardest to listen to what was going on around me. I closed my eyes and concentrated on what I could hear: the birds in the sky, the bugs in the leaves, and the wind weaving its way through the trees. The one thing I couldn't hear? Footsteps chasing me. I breathed a sigh of relief and opened my eyes when suddenly I heard the distinct crunch of a twig behind me.

Well, crap. I didn't dare turn around because it just now hit me that I was in the middle of the woods filled with ravenous creatures like wolves, mountain lions, and goodness knows what else. I was just about to accept my fate when my pessimistic thoughts were interrupted yet again.

"And here I thought you hated running, lil shit," said a voice behind me.

"Oh thank goodness," I said turning around and launching myself at the source of the voice. "I would kill you for scaring me like that, but I more thankful that you found me and not a hungry animal, Lee-Lee." I paused for a moment and twisted myself so I could look up at the tall figure before me. "Wait, did you just call me lil shit, you big shit?" I said humourously. I wrapped myself against her again and tried my best to crush her and hold her against me as securely as I could. "I will cut you, bitch," I added, so quietly that I could barely heart the words.

I pulled myself away from her to look at her expression and I could see her facade slowly slipping away. We both burst out laughing at the situation at hand and stayed laughing in the middle of the woods until we both composed ourselves.

"Kara," Leah groaned, but I couldn't tell whether it was from annoyance of from the pleasure of seeing me. "What exactly are you doing in the middle of the woods anyways? Aren't you supposed to be in school right now?" she said accusingly.

I gave her an offended look. "I was in school…until a psychopathic maniac aka Jacob Black dragged me out kicking and screaming only to toss me in his car, drive away, stop the car, and say that he 'wants me', whatever the hell that means. I kicked him in the balls and ran away like a mad woman."

"Maybe I should have tried that before to get you to work out with me," she mused.

"And what exactly is your excuse for being in the middle of the woods, Lee Lee?" I asked suspiciously. I had a reason for being here but she didn't. "Aren't you supposed to be at work or something?" I asked egging her on.

"I don't have work today," she responded cooly. "Unlike you, I actually like to go on runs so that's what I was doing" she responded with laughter present in her eyes. "This is one of the paths I take."

Seems legit…damn it. "Fine, but I'm watching you," I said using my fingers to point from my eyes to her in an exaggerated manner. Leah was like me in every sense except in the exercise department. While I preferred to lift weights, she preferred to run and run…and run. I stared down at my feet in disgust already noticing how sore my feet were from just running for five minutes when my eyes wandered towards Leah's feet.

Her feet were as bare as the day she was born, that liar. Hell, I know there were people who preferred running without shoes and whatnot but in the woods? On sticks and stones and bugs and things that would probably cut you and hurt your feet? Either she was crazy or she was lying…and I'm going with the latter. At this I was following Leah as she made her way out of the forest, when I sped up to catch up with her. "So…where are your running shoes then?" I said victoriously.

She looked at me alarmed. "Running shoes?"

"Yes," I said with a hint of amusement in my voice, knowing that I had caught her redhanded. "Running shoes. You know, those things people wear to protect their feet when they go running? Those old things?"

"Well, you see," she said. "Oh, I'm so horrible at this…you'd think after a month or two of being friends with you, I'd become a bit more adept at–"

"Leah," I interrupted her with what I hoped was a reassuring smile on my face. "You babble on _far_ too much. Don't worry. You don't have to explain yourself." _Even if I really want you to explain yourself,_ I thought. "I get it. We all have our secrets," I said patting her on the back.

She roughly pulled me to face her and stared down at me. "You'll know in due time. I promise." With that, she turned around and motioned me to follow her, and follow her I did.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I had pretty much wasted the second half of the school day so instead of returning for my last class of the day, I decided to just follow Leah back to her house. I couldn't say that I was surprised by how long it would take to get anywhere from where we were in the woods, but I was admittedly disappointed. At least I got to spend some quality time with Leah (note the sarcasm). It's not that I minded talking to her, not at all, but having to walk two to three hours back to wherever the hell everyone else was was not exactly what I wanted to do right now. Trying to make the most of it, Leah and I began asking questions back and forth to each other and needless to say, we learned quite a lot about each other.

I decided to ask a daring question which would end up in either me being chopped up and hidden in pieces around the wood, or me getting the answer to a question I had wanted to ask for quite a while now. I was an observant person and Emily seemed like such a nice person so I wasn't sure why Leah disliked her. I mean, Leah disliked everyone but this was more than just dislike. This was…disgust; this was hate. "You and Emily Young, you guys are cousins, right?" I asked cautiously.

I saw her steps falter but she kept moving on. "Yeah," she said not bothering to reveal any other information. "So what?" she asked defensively.

I tread with caution. "Why do I sense that there's some tension between you and Emily?" Rather than straight out asking her why she hated her, I decided to fluff it up a bit.

This time her steps stopped completely. "There isn't any tension," she responded tensely.

"Leah," I said knowingly. "You can tell me anything…you know that, right?" I responded reassuringly.

Leah still hadn't moved from where she had stopped. She was frozen. We stayed like that for a few moments before she broke the silence. "I don't hate her if that's what you're thinking." She turned around and I gave her a guilty look but she didn't seem surprised. "She's family. I could never hate her…but I don't like her either. Not anymore, at least."

I looked down at my hands because I couldn't stand the intense look in her eyes. I fumbled with my thumbs and my eyes quickly flicked back up to her face which was looking more and more bitter as each moment passed. "Why don't you like her then?" I asked without thinking. "Did she do something to wrong you?"

Leah scoffed. "Did she do something?" she whispered under her breath unbelievingly. "She did everything. Or rather, she took everything from me. She took _my_ _world_ away from me," she said resentfully. She closed her eyes and took a heavy breath before opening them up again. "Sam," she spit out. "We used to be together. High school sweethearts."

My eyes widened and my mind was racing. Sam and Leah? But the way that Sam and _Emily_ looked at each other made it seem like they had loved each other for…well, forever. They were like two pieces of a puzzle; two sides of the same coin; two peas in a pod. It was sickly beautiful.

"When? I mean, how? I mean, what happened?" I asked trying to reign my emotions in.

Leah sighed this time. "Sam and I were in love. We were happy together," she said letting out a bitter laugh. "I was so sure that we would be together forever…he even proposed to me right after high school ended. He was supposed it for me…and I was supposed to be it for him. But then everything changed when Emily visited."

I felt sick. Emily and Sam…how could they do that to Leah? She was her family and Sam…he was the love of her life. I tried to prevent myself from thinking badly about the both of them but I couldn't help myself. Nonetheless, this _was_ only one side of the story.

"What happened?" I asked quietly.

Leah balled her hands into a fist and snapped at me. "I can't exactly say." I gave her a glare and she glared back at me with twice the intensity. "She was my best friend and my family. We were thicker than thieves and one day, she came to town, she and Sam looked at each other and it was love at first sight. End of story."

"Love at first sight, my ass! He was your boyfriend. No, he was your fiancé! How could he do that to you?" I responded furiously.

She looked down at her feet. "Apparently the spirits wanted them to be together."

I gave her a look of disbelief. "The spirits? Are you– fuck the spirits!"

"Sam fell in love with her, okay?" she choked out.

"So the fucker cheated on you then what? Broke off the engagement or did he just stay with you both for a while before finally deciding to go to her? What kind of messed up love triangle is that?" I responded not being able to hold back my anger.

"He didn't cheat on me. He tried not to feel for her but he couldn't help it, I guess. He loved me, but he was _in love_ with her. That only intensified when she got attacked by a–," she paused. "By a bear. He felt so guilty and he tried to fight his feelings but eventually, he gave into them and now he's happy with Emily. He tried to fight and as much as I wish he would have tried harder, I know it wouldn't have made a difference," she said as her voice broke off towards the end.

Now I knew why Leah acted like a bitch. It was just a front because she had gotten hurt. She had lost the love of her life; her soulmate; her other half…and I knew how she felt in a way. I felt sorry for her because she had to witness Sam's affection for Emily every day…and now Emily was the one engaged to Sam. Hell, she would probably have to go to the wedding considering she was family. She would have to sit through it without screaming and watch as the man she loved married the woman she used to be best friends with.

She didn't deserve this at all.

"I know how you feel," I said before I could stop myself.

She turned to look at me and grimaced. "I really hope you don't."

I nodded at smiled bitterly at her. "I do. I lost my soulmate too…but it was a different kind of love between us," I started.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

It seems we had both lost people in our lives. Since she told me about her tragedy, I decided that it was only fair that I tell her about the _accident_. Apparently we both had pretty bad track records when it came to friends and family and love and whatnot. Let's just say that she wasn't the happiest person in the world, rightfully so, to be fair, and neither was I. I just hid it well.

We finally made it back to what I had assumed was Leah's house until I found out that I was way off. And by way off, I mean way off considering we were at what I assumed was Emily's house. Now, I had no problem with Emily although I was pissed off at what she did to her cousin/best friend, but one would think that Leah wouldn't even want to be anywhere near her unless she had to for some reason.

Leah paused a few hundred feet away from the house. She was staring at the windows, seeming pensive. I looked down at my watch and saw that it was already 3:30pm which meant that one, we had been walking for about two damn hours and that two, school had ended about 30 minutes ago which meant that there would probably be a lot of people in the house most likely including (you guessed it again), Jacob Black.

I had been thinking about the events that went down today and watching Leah for the past several minutes, wondering what she was thinking about. Finally, she started walking towards the house when I decided to stop her. "Why are we here, Leah?" I asked curiously. I could already hear people inside talking and laughing but none of that appealed to me. I was more concerned with what was in front of me. After many moments of silence, I repeated my question again. "Why are we here?"

She seemed to be having an internal struggle but she finally gave me an answer. "To sort things out once and for all," she mused determinedly. She made her way towards the small house again and I caught up to her yet again and stopped her.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I responded unbelievably. "Who are you? Dumbledore? Uncle Iroh? Give me a straight answer, damn it!" I said furiously.

She whipped around to look at me. "I wish I could, okay. It's not my place to say–"

"Stop giving me that excuse. If it's not your right to say, then stop bringing it up!" I cried out with frustration."

She looked at me sadly. "Just trust me, okay? I promise that it will all make sense soon, okay? And I don't take promises lightly."

"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I can't trust you fully if you won't trust me fully," I said turning around. And on that very depressing note, I walked away. I walked away from Leah, Jacob, and all the people in that house. And I didn't look back.

I guess you could say I didn't do well with secrets.


	13. Chapter 13: Running Away

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **I hope you guys like this chapter! Please don't forget to review my story because, like I've said before, it helps to let me know what you like and don't like and more importantly, it gives me more motivation to write! I love that you guys are reading and I'd really appreciate it if you just said a few words about the chapter or the story! Just reminding you guys that while** **I will be posting a new chapter every week, I'll post them sooner if I get 3+ new comments so you could be getting multiple chapters a week! Your opinions and the comments you leave me really help me when I'm writing!** **I hope you guys have a wonderful day/week/year/life! And don't worry. Things are just starting to get heated. A bunch of stuff is going to go down soon enough ;) hehehe**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

I had barely made it five steps before I found the world shifting around me for the second time this day. Unlike the last time, I knew right away what was happening and I can't say that I was any more pleased than the last time it happened. "LEAH CLEARWATER! You put me down right now, gosh darn it!," I fumed.

Her long strides didn't even falter as I pounded on her back and yelled a very interesting string of insults at her that somehow included a platypus with dysentery and an elephant with megalaphobia. After I got all the anger out, I just decided to lay limp and put all my dead weight on her for to carry. If I was going down, I might as well try to take her with me.

"I don't really want to do this, but the idiot deserves a chance and I can't take his constant moping and pining. I'm doing this for me…I mean you," huffed Leah as she made her way into the house carrying me over her shoulder like a lumberjack just casually lugging a chopped piece of wood. She plopped me down and immediately put a hand over my mouth to shut me up before I could get a word in. "Just…this is for your own good and for my sanity, okay? Just go with it," she said in a chastising voice.

I gave her a glare and it was like we were the only two people in the world when suddenly a cough resounded throughout the house. I looked around me and I was not amazed to find basically the whole younger generation of the Rez (aka all the shirtless walking telephone poles and skyscrapers with arms) surrounding me. They just attracted drama, didn't they?

I was surrounded by an abundance of tanned brown skin that suddenly cleared like the Red Sea and made a path for me that led to the very fucking reason I wanted out of here: Jacob Black.

There he was in all his glory (not), looking at me with those sad brown eyes and I was so tempted to just give him a hug and tell him it was all going to be alright when I remembered what a fucking psychopathic maniac he was.

Whoops.

Apparently, everyone but me was interested in what he had to say to me, but I just kept my gaze on everyone else and kept my arms crossed over my chest, not willing to budge. Leah not so gently gave me a shove and I turned around to give her a glare before turning back around and staying in position…that was, until she literally shoved me all the way over to him. _Gee thanks, Lee-Lee. I'm glad to see you want me to be chopped into little pieces so badly by this weirdo_ , I thought.

I finally moved my gaze from his bare feet to his cargo shorts and tried not to linger on his bare chest as I made my way up to those tantalizing eyes of his and opened my mouth to speak. "I'm sorry, I don't negotiate with terrorists and what you're wearing is a crime against America," I spewed indignantly.

I kept my focus on his face and his eyes to see what effect my comment had on him, but all I could see was a glint of humour from the smirk that was forming on his face. "Don't make me toss you on my back again," he said cheekily.

"I hate being on top of people, you dickwad!" I said hotly not realizing the double entendre until it was too late. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and I could feel the embarrassment making its way all over my body.

Alas! it was too late. Before I could rescind my comment or try to salvage my pride, he took advantage of the opportunity. "So you prefer the bottom then? That works out wonderfully. I prefer the top. It looks like it's settled then, hmm?" he responded mildly.

"Oh, just get a room," came a voice from the back of the room that was definitely Embry. I need to remind myself to kill him later.

"Alright everyone. Settle down," came a voice of reason. "Let's give them some privacy," said Emily.

Wait, no! Woman, do you want me to get killed? Privacy is bad; it just gives him more time and space to kill me and throw my body in the ocean or feed me to the wolves! Before I could protest, the room cleared. What was it with these people moving so quickly, damn it? I gave Leah a pleading look as she was the last one to leave but she gave me a apathetic look along with a smirk and turned around.

That bitch.

The door slammed behind the crowd of people who had left me to my own doom and then I turned around awkwardly to face the creepy giant before me. I twiddled my thumbs and swayed back and forth on the balls of my feet in nervousness. "So…," I said eloquently. I looked up at him and noticed that while I was nervous, he was probably ten times more nervous than I was. I decided to try to keep an open mind (key word: try) and let him take the lead.

He seemed to be having a little trouble in formulating words to say so I helped him out. I lowered my voice as low as it could go and began imitating him. "I'm sorry, Kara. I'm sorry that I'm more clueless than a Kardashian without a camera crew. I know everyone is entitled to act stupid once in a while, but I abuse that privilege. I'm sorry for throwing you over my shoulder, dragging you, a girl I barely know, into a fucking car, and then telling you I want you and attempting to maul you with my face," I said in a half-joking, half-serious manner.

He looked up at me and (finally) said something. "I'm sorry," he said running his hands through his hair (gosh darn it, don't think about how hot he looks when he does that). "I just…shit, I don't know what to do or say when I'm around you. I thought that when I im– when people like one another, they don't belong to themselves anymore. I thought it was just their genes telling them they're happy about it and that they didn't have a choice in who they fell in love with or liked, but I was wrong. Shit, I saw you and I tried to deny it, but you're a spitfire and you told me off and you defended me to Bella and…and I don't know. I just…I like you. I'm sorry," he said looking straight ahead, which at his height meant he was looking above me.

I felt my heart melt. I saw him looking at me expectantly and while his reasons certainly didn't excuse his actions, I knew he wasn't actually dangerous to begin with. I suppose I was just angry at what he did and how it was so sudden and on the first day of school, nonetheless. He freaked me out and made me miss classes (not that that was a complete and utter disaster). I gave him a stern yet understanding look and patronizingly said, "Jacob Black. You cannot just throw the girl you like over your shoulder like a caveman, beat your chest, and say 'I want you,' to get her to like you back. Do you understand?" I said raising one of my eyebrows?

He nodded in confirmation and gave me a breathtaking smile, "Sure, sure." Well, this was the Jacob I heard about from Embry and Quil, and this was the Jacob I met that day at his house; this was the Jacob that wasn't pathetically pining after Bella. That got me thinking though…

"Jacob, can I ask you a question?" Without even waiting for him to answer, I spit it out. "What the hell did you even see in Bella? And why the sudden change" I asked still doubtful of his attitude change towards me. I wasn't bitter at all…okay, maybe I was, but I was genuinely curious and cautious because his mood swings were giving me whip lash.

He froze for a few moments before responding. "I…I–" he stuttered out

"I just want an explanation. I don't want any excuses…and you don't have to explain yourself. I just wanted to know," I said looking up at him as I furrowed my brows.

"She filled the hole in my heart," he said. Well, that just put a whole in my heart. I suppose he saw the micro expression of bitterness on my face so he continued. "Ever since my mom died when I was younger and my sisters, Rebecca and Rachel left, it's just been me and Billy. I love him more than anything in the world, but at the same time, I've always felt like something was missing. Bella came back into town and we started hanging out and I guess I just loved the idea of her…but then you came along."

"Yeah, I came along, but from what I remember, you weren't particularly overjoyed by my presence," I said hesitantly. "Not to mention the fact that you still tried to defend Richard when I was trying to protect you from her." My mind began wandering but my internal struggle was interrupted by a simple word that brought heat to my face (yet again).

"Richard?" he asked oddly, giving me an amused look.

My eyes widened but I tried my best to regain my composure. "Did I say Richard? No, I didn't say Richard. Back to the point, Jacob. You, Rich– _Bella_ , Me. What's the deal, Black?

"You're gonna tell me about Richard later," he said He giving me a pointed look. "As for you…have you ever had a secret? One that wasn't yours to tell? Well, that's what it's like for me, only worse. You have no idea how tight I'm bound. I want to tell you…I will tell you, but in due time."

"That…that literally explains nothing," I said feeling myself getting more and more pissed off. "What the hell is it with you Quileutes being all ambiguous and mysterious and shit? Like, what the fuck, Jacob? Are you in a gang or something? Doing steroids? In a gang that does steroids?" I asked outrageously pointing at him and his (fantastic) bulging muscles and waving my hands in the air (like I just don't care).

He stayed silent and I gave him a look of disbelief. "Oh my…I was kidding. Oh, goodness. This is too much drama for me. But wait…Embry? Quil? Paul? Oh my goodness, _Leah?_ " I said unbelievingly.

He opened his mouth to speak and I put a hand up. "Don't, Jacob. I know what you're going to say so don't waste your breath." He seemed adamant so I decided to make a deal with him (and every deal comes with a price, dearie). "Watch, I'm going to write down what you're going to say right now and if I'm right, you let me walk out of here, okay?" He nodded his head apprehensively and I grabbed a sticky note and a pen from the counter and wrote a few words down. "Go on," I said looking back up at him and signaling for him to proceed.

"It's not what you think, Kara," he said pleadingly.

"That is _literally_ what I wrote down. Word. For. Word," I said looking at him incredulously and shoving the sticky note in his face. "See? 'It's not what you think, Kara,'" I said mockingly. "Of course it's what I think, you dip shit."

"I'm not going to hurt you, Kara. I promise," he said with conviction.

"You're not? Well, I guess I can just die happily now knowing that," I said sarcastically. "You're hurting yourself and the people around you, Jacob. If you're mixed up in something bad then I can help you but only if you tell me what is going on." I thought about Sam and Emily and Embry and Quil…they all seemed perfectly nice and normal…maybe too normal. "Look, I can only help you if you want it and yeah, I know, 'it's not like that,' but if it wasn't like that then _someone_ would tell me what the hell is going on. Okay? Okay."

I gave him a sad look. "Talk to me when you're ready to tell me what the hell is going on. Since you're so adamant on insisting you're not involved in anything bad…then don't talk to me until you tell me everything. No details left out. You can relay that message to Leah, Embry, Quil, Paul, and the rest of the lot," I said sternly. I grabbed my bag and started making my way towards the front door when I saw the shocked faces of everyone listening in through the window. I grimaced at the scene in front of me and decided it would probably be much less awkward going through the back rather than going through the front and facing them. I threw Leah and Seth a somber look and gave a heartbroken nod to Quil, Embry, and Paul and made my way off. This time, they knew not to push me and lug me over their shoulder to get me to talk.

I hightailed it out of there and it didn't take long before I was back to my house. I ran inside and slammed the door behind me, half expecting a crowd of sad faces following me around, but I was relieved (yet also disappointed) to find that that was not the case.

"What happened, Kara?"

"Why were you running, sweetheart? You hate running."

"Are you okay, honey?"

"Is someone bullying you? I can find a clever way to break their bones for you and get Chief Swan to get his shotgun or–"

 _Breaking bones? Shotguns? Oh goodness gracious. You gotta love my parents,_ I thought sarcastically. I was beginning to remember how easily they took things completely out of context and hey! I don't hate running…okay maybe I do, but meh. I coughed weakly to interrupt their creative flow of ideas as to what was going on with me. "Mom, Dad…I'm fine."

Wearily, I looked up and my eyes found their worried faces staring back at me. "Are you sure, sweetheart?" asked my mother.

"You seem winded and you look like shit," said my father bluntly.

"Maheegan!" my mother exclaimed with a shocked look on her face.

"Sorry, Arya," he said giving her a sheepish yet unapologetic look. _Not sorry_ , he mouthed to me.

I gave him the dirtiest look I could muster. "Gee thanks, dad. Just what every girl wants to hear. How they look like shi-" I said looking at my mother who looked like she was about to have an aneurism. "Shitake mushrooms. so, what's for dinner?" I said trying to get off topic.

My mother gave me a knowing look. "We're going to talk about this later, Zaana Kara Zanders."

I cringed at the fact that she used my full name and the sting I felt in my heart from hearing _Zaana_. It reminded me too much of the past. I gave her a noncommittal nod and made my way up the stairs, practically sprinting to get away from yet another awkward conversation.

Apparently, the only running I did was running away from all of my problems…at least it's good exercise?


	14. Chapter 14: New Friends

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who left a review and those of you who take the time to read my story. I hope you enjoy this chapter! As per usual,** **I'll post the next chapter sooner if I get 3+ new comments.**

 **P.S. SimplyMe: Kara did meet Embry and Quil at the bonfire but other than seeing them at school, that was the only time she hung out with them. She recognized their familiar faces, but she forgot their names is all. She met them for the first time at the bonfire, but she was just reintroducing herself because generally, after meeting a person just once, chances are you don't remember their name (or maybe that is just me haha). I hope that clears up the confusion! Please feel free to let me know if you have any other questions and that goes to anyone who is reading the story :D**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

The sound of my alarm ringing woke me up the next morning.

I kept my eyes closed and stayed under my blankets as I reached an arm to blindly slap about my bedside table trying to silence the my phone, but apparently, I was just as coordinated as I thought I was (which is not very). The alarm continued to ring until I realized that my phone had fallen off the table and onto the floor, forcing me to actually get up to shut it off.

I looked down at the phone and realized that it wasn't even my alarm. Leah's name flashed across the screen and that definitely woke me up a bit more. I was reminded of the events of last night and I groaned as I pressed the ignore button on the screen. Still half asleep, I stumbled into the bathroom to clean myself up and get ready for another day of school (yay me).

Once I was dressed and looking somewhat like an actual human being, I left my room and went downstairs to knock on my parents' bedroom, not waiting for an answer before I let myself in.

"Mom. Mom. Mom," I called out, trying to get her attention. "I need the car to drive myself to school."

She groaned and pulled the sheets over her head. Goodness, she was the heaviest sleeper ever and she was super cranky in the morning. It was like waking up a beast from its heavy and deep slumber.

"ARYA," I shouted in my best impression of my dad. "THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, ARYA."

Her eyes snapped open and she immediately got out of bed, slamming into me and almost knocking me over. Meanwhile, my dad was still in his blissful state of sleep. Damn, and I thought mom was a deep sleeper. She dug the sleep out of her eyes and squinted at me…although it was probably more of a glare, now that I think about it. "Daughter," she hissed out. "What do you want?"

I let out a humourous chuckle. "Keys?"

She climbed back in bed and pointed to one of the cabinets on the other side of the room.  
"Top drawer on the left, you demon child."

I rolled my eyes and ignored the steady pounding in my temples from my lack of sleep and the alarm still seemingly ringing in my head. "Love you too, mom. I'll make sure to drive the car off a cliff and jump out at the last second."

She shoved her head under the pillow and waved her hands at me beckoning me to leave for school. "Yeah yeah," she muttered from under the pile of blankets.

I chuckled and made my way out of the room, grabbing a granola bar and my backpack on the way out. I refused to let the events of last night get me down, trying not to mind the fact that I had basically just lost all of the friends I had made in a single night.

Damn, that must be a new record for me.

I finally pulled up in front of the parking lot and ended up getting a spot that was pretty close to the entrance of the school but still somewhat of a walk. I caught site of two cars surrounded by a group of large hulking (and very familiar) people parked just outside the entrance. Well, luck must be on my side today.

"Oh, no," I groaned, tempted to bash my head against the window. "Of course they're there…of course I'd have to awkwardly pass them to even get into school." My fight or flight response kicked in. I was weighing the pros and cons when suddenly I heard the bell ring. Aha! Perfect timing. I tried to discreetly look over to the group to see if they had gone yet, but they hadn't moved an inch. I waited for another minute and still, they were just standing there as if they were waiting for something…or someone. Oh, hell no.

I quickly backed the car out of the parking lot and carefully sped away. I glanced in the rearview mirror and I could see their stares on me…and I saw those sad brown eyes of his looking disappointed as I drove away. I gripped the steering wheel and kept driving until I realized that I had no idea where I was going. I may have been in town for a solid two to three months at this point, but I was still directionally challenged (and vertically challenged, but that's issue meant to be discussed at another time).

I was hoping that since it was the second day of school, I wouldn't really be missing anything, but I didn't want my lack of showing up to affect my grades or my teachers' opinions of me. I drove around a bit more looking for a safe place to pull over and stopped the car on the side of the road. I quickly looked up the number for La Push High, punched it into my phone, and waited for someone on the other end to pick up.

"Hi, this is Bridget from the front office. How may I help you," said the mature voice. I recognized her as the kind looking lady who worked at the front desk from yesterday aka the first day of school.

I put on my best Indian accent (and not one of those stereotypical ones, people) and tried to channel my mother as much as possible. "Hello, Bridget! I was just calling on behalf of my daughter, Kara Zanders. She isn't feeling well today so she won't be coming in to school." I said trying not to slip up.

"Oh, no! I met her yesterday. What a lovely girl. I hope she feels better and thank you for calling to let us know!" she said kindly.

"Have a nice day!" I said cheerily.

"Oh, you too, Mrs. Zanders!" she responded genuinely.

Well, now that that was out of the way, I decided to just drive around a bit until I came across something interesting. After all, I did have basically the entire day to myself now. I looked at my phone and noticed I had about 30 missed calls at this point, 25 of which were from Jacob and Leah, so I just turned auto ignore on for them and put the address of the Port Angeles mall into my phone. I think it's about time for some retail therapy. I think shopping till I drop sounds very appealing right now.

*MEANWHILE IN FORKS*

I saw a girl. She wasn't much taller than me yet she had a huge presence. For such a small body, she had such a big personality and I felt as though we could be kindred spirits. She was frustratedly flipping through a rack of clothes but her eyes looked sad and she looked…lonely. Her dark brown hair was falling into her stormy eyes and her brows were furrowed as she tried to concentrate on what was in front of her. I tried to hang onto every detail that I saw but that was easier said than done when the scene before me was moving on so quickly. The name of the store came into view and it was seared into my brain and I heard a voice saying the name, Kara, but before I could get any more information from the vision, my focus and attention was interrupted by someone calling my name.

"Alice," said Edward as he looked at me oddly. "Who is she?" I smiled back at him reassuringly and looked around at my family.

"A friend," I replied feeling warmth spread throughout my otherwise cold body. I bounced out of my seat in the lunchroom and gave a devious look to my sister. "Shopping, Rose? Please?" I squealed. She smirked at me and gave Emmett a kiss before making her way to the parking lot. I gave Jasper a kiss as well and said farewell to the others before following her. _I'll be bringing a friend over tonight, Edward. I can tell that she'll fit right in_ , I thought happily.

I'm finally going to have another girl to dress!

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Here I stood in front of a small boutique with my hand tightly clutching my backpack. Port Angeles was a nice place but at times, it also felt a bit sketchy and I felt chills crawling up my back. Plus, being alone in public always gave me a bit of anxiety but I tried to push it aside. _Lemon's Boutique_. Hmmm, I looked into the window of the store and the boutique seemed to have some interesting pieces of clothing. Vintage and classy looking but some casual looks were also on display. I decided to take a chance and just go for it, so I walked in and was greeted by the sight of racks upon racks of clothes.

The boutique looked small and dainty on the outside but the inside was huge. It reminded me of the tents from _Harry Potter_ and I tried to prevent myself from being overwhelmed. Hmmm, _overwhelmed, underwhelmed_ , I thought. _Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?,_ I thought.

I gave a smile to the lady working at the cash register and made my way deeper and deeper into the store. I tried to distract myself by looking through the racks of clothes, but whenever I saw anything that was remotely brown or black, I was reminded of those sad eyes staring back at me pleading for forgiveness. _No, bad Kara. He'll get forgiveness when he fesses up,_ I thought trying to keep my resolve. I blew a few strands of hair out of my face and frustratedly swiped through the clothes on the rack as I kept my attention on the task at hand. I was determined to find at least a few cute things to buy for myself or so help me, I'd shave all of my hair off (okay, probably not, but still).

"Hello," came an airy voice. "Are you Kara, right?"

I looked to my around me and saw no one. Then I paused for a moment and looked up. "God? Is that you?" I asked in awe. "You sound so pretty," I muttered under my breath.

I heard a chuckle from behind me. "Turn around again," said the voice.

I turned around and was greeted by two beautiful girls. And when I say beautiful, I mean two ethereal and drop dead gorgeous women. The girl to the left had cascading blonde hair and she was like an Amazonian warrior with a built body, piercing eyes, blood red rips, and a signature smirk on her face. The girl on the right was smaller in stature but her eyes were filled to the brim with joy and her dimples, cropped hair, and ballerina like posture gave off a very fairy-like vibe.

"Um…hi," I said, internally berating myself for sounding so stupid in the presence of these goddesses. "Can I help you? I mean, do I know you or am I supposed to know you or sorry, wait, how do you know me?" I rattled off unintelligibly.

The pixie like girl gave me a wide smile. "I'm Alice and this is my sister, Rosalie. We…heard about a new girl in town and since I haven't seen you around before, so I took a wild guess. I wanted to introduce myself to you," she said cheerfully.

Her enthusiasm was infectious. I held out my hand for a handshake. "Oh, that's so nice of you," I said still shocked that she was paying attention to little old me. "As you probably know already, I'm Kara. Kara Zanders."

I waited for her to shake my hand, but she moved closer towards me and pulled me into a hug instead. "I can tell we're going to be the best of friends." I raised my eyebrows and gave her an awkward pat on the back as I looked at Rosalie who smirk was growing wider by the minute.

"Well, I'm always open to new friends?" I said in what sounded like a questioning manner. She kept her arms wrapped around me tightly and I wasn't sure what to do. I don't think I had ever been hugged for this long, not that I particularly minded. Alice was too adorable. I mouthed _help me_ to her and she almost let out a full blown smile before reverting to her signature smirk. Alice finally let go of me and gave me her own devious smirk. "No one dressed by me ever looks like an idiot."

 _Wait…is she implying that I look like an idiot?,_ I thought. Before I could even respond, I was whisked away and let me say one thing–Alice was way stronger than she looked and boy did she have a lot of energy. It was always refreshing to see someone so passionate about something, and I myself loved fashion, but I could tell my love for clothes was no match for Alice. I smiled at Rosalie and let out a breathless sigh as Alice piled mountains of clothes onto our arms. "Is she always like this?" I asked wearily looking as she whizzed back and forth.

"Ooh, you have no idea…but don't tell her I said that," she said flashing me a sneaky look. She forced an exaggerated smile onto her face. "She's coming back. Pretend you're happy!" I laughed along with her and I felt a genuine smile slowly creep its way onto my face.

Maybe this day wouldn't be so bad after all.


	15. Chapter 15: Meeting The Cullens

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **I apologize for the wait, but I think this extra long chapter will be worth it! Some of you will like it and some of you might get a bit mad at me :P I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who left a review and those of you who take the time to read my story. Let me know if you want to see more of the Cullens or if you're missing the Pack. I hope you enjoy this chapter! As per usual,** **I'll post the next chapter sooner if I get 3+ new comments.**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

I don't think I had ever seen anyone shop like Alice did and she made me consider shopping as a sport. Shopping with Alice was um…interesting, to say the least.

Terrifying, actually.

Luckily enough, one glance at Rose's face took away my fear and replaced it with another goofy smile knowing that I wasn't alone in this hell called _Lemon's Boutique_. Alice was weaving her way through the clothes tossing them up in the air, expecting us to catch them (and heck, there was a _lot_ of clothes).

Nonetheless it felt downright _weird_ to be dressed up like a doll not to mention that Alice had little to no boundaries when it came to trying on clothes.

"Come out already, Kara! Don't make me come in there like last time," she screamed excitedly.

Ah, speak of the devil and she shall appear. I considered not responding and waiting to see how long it would take until she actually _did_ come barging into the dressing room, but I decided against that idea. I didn't really like what I was wearing considering it showed off everything, and I mean _everything_ , but maybe Alice would understand?

"I can't come out. The dress is too long and too tight and I'm gonna be waddling like a penguin and tripping all over the place. I can see it now; me falling on the pavement and breaking my nose and scratching up my hands and everyone will just laugh at me as I bleed out. The best part? Nobody will realized I'm dying because the dress is red anyways. This dress will _literally_ be the death of me. I'm not coming out in this death trap!" I said all in one breath.

I could hear Rosalie chuckling outside but Alice shouted back, unfazed. "At least you'll die looking hot, which is more than I can say about you now."

"Bitch, I'm coming," I yelled, struggling to zip the rest of the dress up. "And I'm going to look even hotter sweating like a pig from trying to get this stupid zipper to work with me," I said huffing and puffing like the damn wolf from the _Three Little Pigs_ story.

I am so out of shape.

Back to the matter at hand. I finally got the damned dress on and I banged my head on the door and mentally prepared myself for the howls of laughter that were awaiting me the moment I stepped outside of this safe haven that was a dressing room.

I finally stepped out only to be greeted with complete silence. Alice had a shocked look on her face while Rosalie had a simple smirk, as per usual. Of course, the silence couldn't last as it was interrupted by a shriek from Alice.

"It's perfect on you! We have to get it," she cried out.

"Whoa…um, we? I don't think I'm getting it; for one, it's expensive and two, I look like a tomato or a bell pepper or something," I said looking at myself critically in the mirror.

"You're kidding me, right?" said Rose, finally speaking up.

"Um…no?" I said wearily, trying to smooth out the dress to hide my curves and my food baby.

"Kara. You either get that one dress or I'll tell Alice that she has permission to redo your whole wardrobe," she said raising an eyebrow.

"What? Oh, please. She could't do–"

"Oh yes, I can," came from Alice.

"I'm the only one who's been holding her back so you really only have two options here; join or die," she said intimidatingly.

Alice let out a noise of exasperation

"Well, geez…when you put it like that…" I said sarcastically, throwing her an annoyed look as I made my way back into the dressing room. I managed to slither my way out of the dress and tossed it over the door as I changed back into my comfortable, not constricting clothes. I opened the dressing room door when I noticed the dress was gone.

"What the hell?" I whispered to myself, looking around frantically for the dress that would give me a free pass from Alice for at least the next week. I gave a huff of annoyance until someone walked behind me and tapped on my shoulder. I whipped around and somehow my frustration melted under Alice's cool hands as she put them on my shoulders with a guilty look on her face that somehow also managed to seem like she had no regrets about what she had done.

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I put my hands on her shoulders as well. "You took the dress, didn't you?"

"Yep!"

"You're going to buy the dress, aren't you?"

"Well, about that…"

"You already bought the dress, didn't you?"

"Yep!"

"Fine," I said caving in, and that was that. I couldn't really argue with Alice with her big golden eyes staring up at me. I rubbed my temples. Was there anything I could actually refuse to do when Alice was involved? I looked at the time and realized that we had actually spent hours in the boutique. It was around 5:00pm at this point, which meant that school would have been out by now.

"You got played," Rose said as she linked arms with me and Alice.

I loved Rosalie's blunt comments. They just give me life. "Yeah, well, she used psychological waterboarding on me and she won by a landslide."

"You're welcome," said Alice.

I was reminded of the time when I saw that I had received a text from my mother asking when I'd be home. I gave a wistful look to Rose and Alice. "I had a great time today. It was just what I needed, but unfortunately, I have to return back to reality and get my butt back home," I said unlinking my arms from their arms and digging through my bag for my keys.

"We'll walk you to your car," said Alice.

We made our way to my car and I said my goodbyes as I tossed my backpack and bag onto the back seats. I put my key into the ignition and tried to start the car only to hear a sputtering noise. I tried a few more times only to have it still not work, which lead to me throwing my hands in the air as I let out a small scream of frustration. A knock on my window brought me out of my mini tantrum and my heart skipped a beat out of fear.

"Need some help there?" came a muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"Rose? What are you still doing here?," I asked confusedly as I rolled down the window.

"Well, Alice and I saw that you were having some trouble with your car so I came over here to offer you a ride."

"Oh, well that's a kind offer but what about my car?"

"I can have Emmett or Jasper pick it up for you."

I was a bit weary about giving the keys to my cars to strangers, especially because I had just met Alice and Rosalie today, but they seem trustworthy enough. "Alright," I said reluctantly as I made my way over to Rosalie's Hummer. Alice was sitting in the back already so I sat in the passenger seat.

Rosalie looked at me expectantly and I stared back at her weirdly. "Are you going to tell me where we're going or are we just going to sit here like a bunch of idiots?" she asked directly.

"Oh!" I exclaimed embarrassingly. "Right, well, just get out of the parking lot first and I'll lead the way from there," I said trying to recover from the awkward moment.

"Actually," Alice interrupted, "I already spoke to Arya, your mother, and she said she wouldn't mind if you came over to our house for the night."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You spoke to my _mother?_ When the hell did you have the time to do that? And…how did you even get her number?" I said a little bit more than a little creeped out.

"The school directory has all the numbers and addresses of students and whatnot," Alice said as she waved a hand like it wasn't a big deal.

I turned around to face her with wide eyes. "Right…you do realize how creepy this is, right?"

Rose butted in. "It's Alice. She wouldn't realize she's overstepping boundaries if there was a literal line in front of her to cross. Just call your mom if it makes you feel better."

I gave Rose a weird look. Of course I was going to call my mom. I didn't want to get an ass whooping, not to mention it seemed a bit suspicious that she would just let me go to a sleepover to some random girls' house on a school night, nonetheless. I dialed the home phone and waited for her to answer.

She picked up the phone right away. "Hello, beta?"

"Hi, Amma," I said cautiously. "Can I sleep over at a friend's house tonight? They're sisters, actually."

"Oh! That girl, Alice, called me earlier saying your car broke down. What a lovely person. She also told me her father was Dr. Cullen. Maheegan works with him over at the Forks Hospital! Dr. Cullen and his wife invited us to dinner Friday night anyways, and Alice offered to let you sleep over at the Cullen's house while her brothers fixed your car free of charge! She even gave me her number and address in case of any emergencies, so you're free to stay overnight if you want to, beta," she said excitedly at the prospect of me making new friends.

Well, I might as well give them a chance. "Okay, Amma. I'll see you tomorrow after school then. Love you!"

"Love you too, Kara."

I ended the car and looked over to Rosalie and Alice who were looking at me knowingly. "So…lead the way?" I said enthusiastically as I gave a shrug to Rose.

With Rose driving like a maniac at 100mph on roads with speed limits of around 45mph, we reached their house in record time…and we didn't die, which was just a damn miracle. The Cullen house was gigantic, to say the least. It was a modern styled house that was very well-proportioned and the southern wall was almost made entirely of glass. It seemed very open and Alice told me that the house was actually over 100 years old. Apparently her mother, Esme, restored the house. It was three stories tall, which seemed fit considering the size of the Cullen family, and had a beautiful white porch at the front, not to mention the garage filled with luxurious and expensive cars.

Alice pulled me inside the house as Rose took her time getting out of the Hummer. Alice was going on about the history of the house and how she had never had a real sleepover before. She was filling me in on all the ideas she had for what to do and from what she was saying, she wanted to fit in everything you've seen happen at a sleepover in the movies into our sleepover tonight.

"Ooh! What should we do first? We already went shopping, but maybe we can have a fashion show? Or give each other a makeover? Or we can write a song together? Ooh, ooh, we can play a prank on the boys!" she said firing questions off like it was a speed round of "Family Feud."

Just as I was about to ask for some food, as I hadn't eaten since the morning, my stomach growled. Rosalie gave me a disgusted look while Alice seemed to have a look of realization on her face. "We haven't fed you yet, have we? Whoops!"

I gave her a smile. "It's alright. But first things first…what food do you have? I'll do anything you want if you give me food," I said not realizing what I was promising her.

"Deal!" She agreed before I could change the terms of our agreement or rescind my offer.

I squinted my eyes and looked down at my stomach. "Traitor," I whispered, only to hear laughter coming from people who were most definitely _not_ Alice and Rosalie. I looked up only to face the most beautiful people I had ever seen in my life.

No joke.

 _They're beautiful…but not as breathtaking as Jacob, of course_ , I thought.

 _Damnit, no. He's a–_

 _manly man with a tragic past and lips you just want to kiss?_

 _No, he's an egotistical ass who looks kind of like an alpaca. Shut up, conscious._

 _Oh, great_ , I thought. _I'm having a conversation with myself_.

I was brought back to reality by Alice tapping on my shoulder. I realized we had walked into the kitchen by this point and she was gesturing to the beautiful strangers in front of me. "This is my family."

"I gathered that considering they look like the perfectly gorgeous cast of a CW show," I said before I could stop myself. My eyes widened as I realized what I had said and my mouth fell open a little bit but the older male on the left with bleach blonde hair let out a chuckle. Meeting the Cullens was going differently than I had imagined, to say the least. Instead of acting like a sane and normal person, I was acting like a weirdo, which is who I really was, but they didn't need to know that… _yet_.

"I can't say I've ever heard that description before. I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen, but you can call me Carlisle," he said warmly, holding out his cold hand for me to shake. Oh, the irony! I shook his hand and he gestured to the kind-faced woman next to him. "This is my lovely wife, Esme."

I was about to hold out my hand to shake, but she pulled me in for an affectionate hug instead. She broke away from me and gave me a smile. "Kara, we're making Indian food for you."

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it," I said as I took in the smells of all the spices.

"You've given us an excuse to use the kitchen," said Carlisle as Emmett paused the cooking show on the TV.

"I hope you're hungry!" Esme said kindly.

"Oh, absolutely," I replied with enthusiasm.

"We all heard the beast growl, so I think it's safe to say that she's hungry alright," said one of the boys with a cheeky look on his face

Rose went over and smacked him on the head and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. "This idiot over here is Emmett."

Emmett gave me a toothy smile and gave me a big bear hug, lifting me off of the ground in the process. "Whoah there, big guy! As much as I like flying, I prefer to be on the ground. It's closer to Hell where I belong," I said letting out a laugh.

He plopped me down and patted my head affectionately. "I like you," he said approvingly.

"Good for you," I said boldly. I looked between the last two boys. One of them had shaggy yet slightly curled brown hair and a reserved disposition, yet he looked like he had been through a lot of pain in his life. "You must be Jasper," I said extending my hand. "Alice has told me a lot about you…in the–" I looked down at my watch "7 or so hours I've known her," I said giving him a small smile.

He hesitantly and very quickly shook my hand. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm sure I'll be hearing a lot about you from now on," he said giving me a shy look. Alice moved next to him and whispered something in his ear before lacing her hand through his hand.

I turned towards the last boy. His bronze hair was neatly combed and he vaguely reminded me of _her._ His overall disposition seemed somewhat distrusting and his eyes held a certain sadness, like he was lost in this world, yet he wanted to find a way to redeem himself I felt an instant connection with this stranger and it was becoming clear to me that he was so similar to me in just his demeanor that I was already shaking a bit. I wanted him to like me. _I need him to like me_ , I thought desperately trying to fill the gaping wound that was choosing now of all times to rip open.

After the _accident_ , I hadn't been the same and it seemed as though he too had inner demons that he was struggling with. Much like Jasper, he approached me me with caution, but instead of shying away from me, he gave me a firm handshake and nodded at me with a look in his eyes I couldn't quite decipher. He looked like he was trying to read me but he was struggling, which just made him even more frustrated.

"I didn't have a chance to introduce myself earlier. My name is Edward Cullen," he said cordially. I just stared at him trying to get something, anything, out. My thoughts were a jumbled mess and it was like my brain just wouldn't cooperate with my body. I let out a big gulp as he tried to help me out. "You're Kara."

"I'm…yes," I said feeling like an idiot. I broke away from his gaze and took a step back away from him, shyly looking at him from underneath the curtain of my hair. "I'm not good with people," I said to the whole family even though the apology was mainly meant for Edward considering he was the one I couldn't even say a coherent sentence to.

At this point, Esme had resumed her cooking as Rosalie and Emmett went to help her. Dr. Cullen had wandered off somewhere, presumable to his office, and Alice and Jasper were in the corner whispering away and gazing longingly into each other's eyes. Alice broke away from Jasper quickly and walked gracefully towards me. "Edward! Why don't you give Kara a tour of the house?"

I looked between Edward and Alice and it looked like they were having some sort of telepathic conversation, but I could see the look of discomfort on Edward's face. I felt my heart drop a bit. _I know everyone can't like me but of course yet another person I feel an odd connection with is weirded out by me. What is so wrong with_ me, I thought, trying to keep a positive attitude and a smile on my face despite the awkward situation. Not being wanted isn't the greatest feeling in the world, after all.

Alice gave me a triumphant look. "I'll see you soon. Don't worry, you'll be able to eat!"

I gave her a dirty look. "Bribing me with food? That's the lowest of the low…but I'll take it," I said trying to lighten the mood. I looked over towards Edward as Alice made her way back to Jasper. "We can always just go upstairs for ten minutes and you can say that you showed me the house," I said genuinely. "I wouldn't want to be a burden or anything like that," I said nervously twiddling my thumbs. I knew how unpleasant it could be to be around strangers. I wasn't the greatest at socializing and it seemed like Edward wasn't either but he surprised me by moving towards the staircase and motioning for me to follow.

As we ascended the stairs, I asked him about the eclectic art pieces and he took the time to explain to me what each one was and where they were from. The pieces of art ranged from Ethiopian crosses to Asian scrolls to Greek sculptures, and more. I asked about the wall of graduation caps arranged by colour and he simply said it was a private joke, so I didn't bother pushing.

He showed me Rosalie, Alice, and Emmett's rooms as well as the master bedroom, but didn't open the door to Jasper. I figured Jasper wanted his privacy, which was more than fine by me. He made his way to a room on the south side of the house where the wall was mostly just glass. There was a breathtaking view of the landscape with the river and the green grass in the background and the room itself looked like it was straight out of a catalog.

"And this is my room," said Edward hesitantly. He waited at the door of his bedroom as he let me into the room. I looked around and noticed that he his room was full of Cd's, vinyl, track tapes, and everything music.

"There is no doubt that the first requirement for a composer is to be dead," I said quoting Arthur Honegger, a Swiss composer.

He gave me a smirk. "So you know music then?" he asked.

"I know music…although I can't say I'm obsessed with like you are," I said gesturing to his room. "But, no bed?" He was about to reply when I cut him off. "Let me, guess. You can sleep when you're dead?"

He looked down and gave me a dry smile. "Something like that."

"It's okay. I don't have a bed in my room either. Just a comfy couch. I'm not one for sleeping either," I said understandingly.

He looked up at me curiously. His eyes seemed to pierce into my very soul and I could hear my heart beating quickly. He was so similar to me…like a kindred spirit of sorts. I had already lost my one true soulmate, but–

"Do you have any favourites?" he asked, pointing to his collection?

"It depends on what you mean. Genre? Composers? Eras?" I asked.

"Alright, so you really do know your music then. 1890's. Classical," he said with a challenging look in his eyes.

"Romantic-era composers then? Hmm, I'd have to say Debussy…but I like Strauss Jr. as well. Debussy is good for a calming effect and for when I want to dwell a bit more on life and sadness, but Strauss is good for when I feel like dancing…but if we're talking about the 1800s in general, I really like Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, and…well, more," I said trying not to ramble on.

He looked at me with a subtly surprised expression on his face. "Debussy is my favourite too. Strauss Jr. is good as well," he said as he pulled out a CD and started playing a song.

I raised my eyebrow and gave him a look, but he ignored me as he moved toward me. "Really? The blue Danube Waltz? How predictable." He pulled me towards him and started to turn me into a pirouette but I broke away. "Just because I said I like dancing, doesn't mean I'm good at it," I said looking down at my feet and giving them a dirty look. "Let's just say I don't exactly have that…stripper gracefulness."

He gave me a mischievous look. "And you would know that how exactly?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh, shush. I just can't dance…or do anything that even remotely requires any sort of coordination or grace. It's a miracle I can walk without tripping, really. Well, most of the time anyways."

"Is that so?" he asked curiously.

"Yep. I'd like to think that danger and death are in love with me and I just end up meeting them halfway hence my lack of coordination and my ability to find myself in dangerous and life-threatening situations," I said with a playful glint in my eyes. "I would say I'm right considering I'm alone in the room of a boy I barely know and for all intents and purposes, you could be an axe murderer with some sort of fetish for girls who like classical music…or boys. I don't judge," I said slyly.

He gave me a grin and stared at me intensely. "Were you born in the United States?" he asked randomly.

"I was born in New Jersey, actually. Why do you ask?" I wondered curiously.

He pondered over that fact. "What other language do you speak?" he asked looking slightly frustrated.

"How do you know I'm multilingual?" I asked a little bit weirded out.

He hesitated for a moment before a moment before answering. "I'm usually quite good at reading people but it's hard to…understand you."

"What does me knowing another language have anything to do with understanding me?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh, cultural differences and slight changes in customs and body language, along with other things," he replied smoothly. "I was simply curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know," I said slyly.

"But satisfaction brought it back, Kara," he replied back effortlessly.

"Touché," I responded begrudgingly. "I'm fluent in a South Indian language called Tamil as well as Spanish. I actually learned Tamil first and I speak it at home with my mom because she prefers it over English. And you?" I asked challengingly.

"I happen to be fluent in Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, Dutch, and many other European languages," he said with a grin. _Damn it. He won this round. Actually…,_ I thought.

"I couldn't tell you were fluent in anything other than idiocy, Edward," I said humourously.

He gave me a grin and looked as though he was about to chase after me but the moment was interrupted when Alice cleared her throat and knocked on the door with Rosalie behind her. "I told you she was a good friend, Edward," she said knowingly. He gave her a nod. "That she is," he said nodding at me as well as he reverted to his usual reserved manner. _He really doesn't let many people in, does he?Well, I'm going to find a key or just take a sledgehammer to those walls of his then_ , I thought, mentally devising a plan to help a kindred spirit and fellow lost soul. "My turn with her though!" Alice said, dragging me out of the room.

I threw Edward a look that said something along the lines of 'help me from this cute yet evil pixie,' but he just gave me a smirk. Damn him.

"Wait!" I cried out. "We made a deal. Feed me first," I said remembering how hungry I was. She stopped dragging me and pouted. "Oh, fine…but then makeovers!"

"Perfect," Rosalie said sarcastically. I threw her a look to show her I agreed with her.

"Plus, you guys are gorgeous already and you know it. I'm just a lost cause," I said honestly. Rosalie had beautiful golden hair that looked like it was spun by Rumplestiltskin himself and she was like an Amazonian warrior goddess with her sharp features. Alice had silky smooth dark hair that resembled obsidian and although she was petite, she had just the right amount of curves as well. Looking at me next to them was like looking at a lioness and a tigress next to a blob fish.

I wasn't even exaggerating.

"Oh, please. Don't kid yourself," said Rose. "I envy you."

"Wait, what? _You_ envy _me?_ " I said incredulously. "That's ridiculous."

"No, it's not," she said as emotions played across her face. "You have no idea how lucky you are, Kara," she said looking at me intensely. "…and you're beautiful just the way you are, and Alice and I are going to help you realize that even if it takes us all night," she said with determination evident in her voice.

I smiled at the both of them. "Thank you…both of you," I said genuinely. "I have a feeling that today is going to be one of the best days I have had since–" _the accident_ , I thought. "Since forever," I continued. Today started off to be one of the bad days in my life, but it ended up being one of the best. I suppose things really do get worse before they get better.

"Now…are you actually going to feed me or am I just going to die of starvation?"

* * *

 **If you didn't get why Edward asked Kara if she spoke another language or not, it's because she sometimes thinks in Tamil and he doesn't know Tamil. That's why he said it's hard to read her and that's why he's even more intrigued by her...let's just say Edward is probably going to be hitting the books and trying to learn a new language as fast as he can ;)**


	16. Chapter 16: Interrogation Tactics

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's characters.

 **This chapter makes me all giddy inside and outside. I hope you guys will like it and I have to say that this has been a long time coming ;) Thank you again to those of you who left a review. If you're reading my story, I'd love to hear what you like about it! I hope you enjoy this chapter! As per usual, I'll post the next chapter sooner if I get 3+ new comments.**

 **\- Iaurrhim :)**

Esme had prepared a fantastic meal fit for a king; nay, an entire freaking _kingdom_. There were about fifteen different types of curries, naan bread, and cuisine from many regions in India. She said she wasn't sure what I liked, so she decided to just make…well, everything. I didn't mind, but after I stuffed my face, I had a huge food baby which made it hard to be Alice and Rosalie's barbie doll. Nonetheless, Alice wasn't deterred by my bloated stomach and Esme was so glad that I had eaten so much that she packed about 15 pounds worth of food and said she would drop it off at my house later tomorrow. She even packed me a lunch for tomorrow!

This family was way too…giving. Esme gave me enough food to last me a few weeks. Alice _insisted_ on giving me any clothes that I liked because apparently it was bad to wear something more than once, or twice if it was really really cute. I scoffed at her not-so-subtle dig at me and my uniform of black jeans and a t-shirt, but I was touched by the gesture. I tried not to show my excitement over clothes but when Alice forced me to show what I was wearing to Edward and Emmett (goodness knows why), she somehow knew if I liked it or not.

I tried to refuse the clothes because a lot of them were quite expensive and I'd rather buy video games or car parts or just cheaper clothes in general, but she wouldn't take no for an answer…she _really_ wouldn't. She even threatened to burst into tears and if there's one thing I can't handle, it's a crying person.

Alice, Rose, Edward and I all sat in the family room just talking about random things and bonding while Emmett and Jasper went to go fix my car and bring it back to the house so I could drive to school in the morning. It was all fun and games until THE FIRE NATION ATTACKED.

Just kidding.

Alice had a "That's So Raven," moment and stared off into the distance for a noticeable amount of t me before her eyes connected with Edward and then she looked at me. Rosalie noticed what had happened, as did I, but she tried to distract me from what was going on to no avail.

"Alice?" I said, trying to get her attention. "Is everything alright?" I asked looking back and forth between her and Edward.

"Everything is fine, Kara. No need to worry" interrupted Edward. "Alice is just easily distracted sometimes," he said looking at Alice and chuckling, but I could sense that something was off.

"If you say so," I said giving him a suspicious look.

Rosalie tried to move past the situation yet again, except this time she actually succeeded. "So, any lucky guys in your life, Kara? Do tell," she said giving me a wink.

I brushed off the situation from before knowing that if they wanted to tell me, they would, and answered the question as truthfully as I could.

"Lucky guys…do fictional ones count?" I asked with a lopsided smile on my face. It got a good laugh out of Edward, but Alice and Rosalie both had scowls on their face, so I gave into the question for real this time.

"I've met quite a few boys at school and around the Rez, but I'm just friends with them," I said honestly. "None of them really pique my interest," I said, trying not to think about those molten chocolate eyes filled with want and warmth and the scent of cinnamon mixed with a woodsy undertone. "No lucky guy at all," I said again.

Edward's head snapped towards me and he had a bitter look on his face. "You're not safe around them, Kara."

I was confused at his sudden animosity towards a group of boys he had never met…or had he? "Do you know them? I mean, there are a lot of people in La Push that I could be talking about and I haven't even said any of their names and–"

"I know exactly who you're talking about. Jacob Black, Embry Call, Quil Ateara; All part of 'Sam's gang,' as many people in La Push would say," he said as he frowned slightly.

"They're not going to hurt me," I said strongly. "And I'm mostly friends with Leah Clearwater. She's the only girl friend I have," I said before pausing to look at Alice and Rosalie who had miffed looks on there faces. "Other than you two, of course, but I just met you guys yesterday," I said exasperatedly.

"Edward is right," said Rosalie with a sour expression on her face. "They're dangerous to be around. We just want you to be safe."

I greatly appreciated their concern for me, but I could take care of myself. Plus, they seemed harmless enough. Sure, they looked all looked like The Rock or like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, but they were like my late german shepherd; all bark and no bite.

"Jacob isn't going to hurt me," I said before realizing that technically, he already had…all of them had disappointed me and left me out yet here I was defending them. _Stupid idiot_ , I thought, _but it's too late to admit that I'm wrong._ "I mean, none of them are going to hurt me."

"Not intentionally," said Edward. I gave him a pointed look and he gave me back a defeated look. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I know you are, all of you, but I promise I'll be okay. If I need any protection, you're all just a phone call away!" I said trying to lighten the mood. "Plus, I have room in my heart for Leah, and for a psychopathic blonde and a magical pixie," I said giggling at Rosalie's slightly pissed off expression. She hissed at me while Alice just jumped on me and gave me a hug.

"Oh, and who could forget about the broody village idiot over there. That plebeian too," I said clutching my stomach as tears formed in my eyes. "No offense though, Edward," I said sarcastically.

"None taken, my liege," he said teasingly.

After clearing things up about my safety, Emmet and Jasper returned with my car restored back to its former glory. Then, I convinced them all to watch "Stranger Things" and even Carlisle and Esme joined us and we basically watched the whole season as one eight-hour long movie. It made me nostalgic because it reminded me of the times I would watch movies with my whole family, but now it was just me and my parents at home and they were too busy as was I. It reminded me of a simpler time but most importantly, it made me feel like I belonged.

It was one of the best nights I had experienced since the night of the _accident._

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

A dull and throbbing sensation was the only thing I could comprehend when I was finally able to pull myself into consciousness. My whole body hurt and there was something else I could feel…something cold. I couldn't stop shivering yet it was a comforting feeling against my aching muscles. As soon as I remembered the events of last night, I felt an involuntary smile come on my face.

"Are you going to get up or just smile creepily like that with your eyes closed?" said a distinctly male voice.

"It depends," I said as I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. "Are you going to continue to watch me sleep only to make snarky comments or are you going to get kicked in the balls? Hmm, it might be the latter if you don't shut up, Edward," I said rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

He gave me a smirk and said, "I'd like to see you try. Rise and shine now. Time for school." He started to walk out of the room when I called out after him.

"Wait," I said taking in my surroundings. "How did I end up in your room?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he said mischievously, and walked out of the room.

 _Well, damn boy_ , I thought. Getting up off of the couch in Edward's bedroom, I stretched my arms and let out another yawn as I closed my eyes. My moment of peace and silence was interrupted by a door slamming. My head snapped towards it and Alice whizzed into the room as Rosalie lazily followed.

"What did I say about beauty sleep?" Alice asked, slightly chastising me.

"Sorry, I was too busy trying not to suffocate between Emmett and Edward last night," I said sarcastically…but then I realized the double entendre behind my words as I heard Emmett laughing outside of the room.

"That must have been one dream you had, Kara!" he hollered.

"Oh come on! You know what I meant!" I yelled back frantically. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Alice and Rosalie. "So…what's up?"

Alice pulled me up from the bed and dragged me into her room. "We have an hour to get you ready for school and make you look fabulous. Now, for your outfit, I was thinking–"

"An _hour_? Woman, are you crazy? I'm going back to bed. I'll just wear what I wore yesterday," I said as I made my way to the door but she quickly blocked my way.

She gave me puppy dog eyes and when I told her that wouldn't work, she threatened me and let me tell you, Alice could be very scary when she wanted to be. She was going to force me to wear a dress, but I managed to convince her to at least let me wear pants so she dressed me up in a pair of designer high waisted jeans, and a black off the shoulder shirt that she kept tucked into the jeans with a stylish belt.

"Do you need some help? I could do her hair?" Rosalie offered.

I gave her a dirty look. "Joining the dark side, I see?" I said quirking one eyebrow up.

She gave me a small smile. "If you can't beat them, join them," she said as she plugged in both a straightener and a curler into power outlets.

In about 10 minutes, my unruly curly locks were transformed into nice beachy waves with a few pieces framing my face. My hair was quite fine and thin, but Rose said that the loose beach waves gave me a wispy look that a lot of models in the 80s and 90s had. I was feeling quite confident, but Alice would't let me look in the mirror until she was finished with her so-called "masterpiece." _What a drama queen_ , I thought. After another 20 minutes of her beating my face, she was finally done.

She led me to a mirror and what I saw shocked me. On a good day, I wasn't pretty but I wasn't ugly either. My skin was somewhat clear and I had some curves, but today…Alice must have done some sort of dark magic. My hair looked shinier than it had ever looked before and for once, my frizzy hair didn't resemble Hermione Granger's first year lion mane. Alice had switched out my typical black jeans and a loose t-shirt to something more fitted so for the first time in years, you could see that I actually had curves. Instead of wearing heels, I had convinced her to let me wear a cute pair of lace-up black flats along with a faux leather jacket to complete the look. After admiring myself in the mirror (hey, a girl is allowed to feel good about herself, you know), I turned around and threw myself at Alice and Rose. I grabbed onto them as tightly as I could and gave them a big bear hug.

"Makeovers. They bring everyone together," said Alice smiling back at me. "Now, you better get to school," she said as she rushed me downstairs and handed me my backpack and car keys.

I was met by the smiling faces of the rest of the Cullens. Esme came up to me and handed me a lunchbox. "I packed you a fruit salad and a yogurt to eat at school for breakfast, some nuts and dates for a snack, a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, and some pecan pie for dessert." She smiled and gave me a hug and said, "have a great day at school, Kara."

"That's so generous of you. Really, Esme. Thank you so much," I said returning her smile.

Emmett whistled. "Come on! Don't go, kid! Transfer to Forks High!" he said giving me a bear hug.

"I wish," I said honestly. "But it's a bit late for that. Honestly, even though my house is technically in La Push, it's actually on the border between La Push and Forks, so I was zoned for Forks High. My parents aka my dad insisted on me going to school on the Rez because that's where he went," I said trying to be optimistic about school on the Rex but completely failing.

"It was nice to have you around, Kara," said Jasper kindly. "I'm sure we'll be seeing more of you around here."

"You can count on it, Jasper," I said giving him a shy smile. I hope that one day, he'd feel more comfortable around me.

I looked around and realized that the last member of the Cullen family was missing. "Where's Eduardo?" I asked to no one in particular.

They all smiled at my little nickname and Carlisle stepped up to answer my question. "He had some business to attend to at school. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be seeing him soon enough," he said knowingly.

"Well, alright. Tell him that I've gone Chopin and that I'll be Bach in a minuet. He'll get it," I told Carlisle with a smile.

I waved goodbye to all the friendly faces and walked out the door to get to my car. I started up the car and made my way to La Push High. It was now that I took the time to think about what a big mistake I had made in shunning Leah, Embry, Quil, and so on. Not only was I going to be alone in school, but everyone should be entitled to secrets. I tried to reason with myself by saying that if those secrets involved me, I should be in on them, which made me feel better about my decision…but that didn't change the fact that school today would be awkward as hell.

I made my way into the parking lot, and luckily, there were no walking telephone polls with arms in sight. I made a run for it only to realize that Embry and Quil would be in my homeroom class. I braced myself to face them only to find out that _they_ were the ones not in school today. I felt both relieved and worried. I hoped they were okay but at the same time, I was glad that I didn't have to face their sad faces looking up at me just yet.

The first half of the day went smoothly and when my teachers asked if I was feeling better, I was confused at first, but managed to play it off and save myself from trouble by pretending that I still had a slight cough but was well enough to attend classes.

When lunch time came around, I looked around expecting their usual table to be empty, but my heart started speeding up in my chest when I noticed that it was like things hadn't changed. Embry and Quil had seemingly returned for the rest of the school day, Jared and Kim were cuddling up next to each other, Seth, Brady, and Collin were goofing around, and Quil and Embry were conversing with a sulking and mopey Jacob.

As soon as I walked in, all of the boys started randomly sniffing the air and looking around until their eyes fell upon me. My eyes widened as they noticed me and I walked right past them and to an empty table across from their table. I put my head down and tried to mind my own business when I sensed the presence of people behind me. Heat was radiating off of them yet still, I kept my head down and focused on my food as I tried my best not to notice them.

"Where have you been?" asked Jacob protectively with a hint of worry in his voice.

I continued to pick at my food until my plate was taken away from me. I turned around to come face to face with Jacob, Jared, Embry, and Quil. Embry had been the one to take my plate of food away from me. "You know, this could be considered as bullying. You may not have taken my lunch money, but you've taken my lunch," I said trying to avoid the question.

"Just answer the question, Kara," Embry pleaded. "It's for your own good."

"Please, Kara?" said Quil.

I looked between the both of them and then back at Jacob before my eyes drifted to Jared. "And you? Aren't you going to nag me too?"

Jared lifted both of his hands to sign surrender and to show that he meant no harm. "I'm just here for moral support," he said as he raised his eyebrows.

I turned my attention back to Jacob and tried not to melt under his gaze. _He's hot when he's angry_ , I thought, before scolding myself for thinking like that about him. "I was around," I answered vaguely.

"Around where?" he said growing more irritated by the moment.

"I was at a friend's house last night, if you must know," I said getting annoyed at the fact that he was basically interrogating me. "Not that you have any right to know."

"I…" he said as his resolve was breaking. "Which friend?" he said reverting to his interrogation tactics.

"You're not my only friends, you know. And I was at a girl friend's house," I said leaving out as many details as possible to frustrate him.

It seemed to be working as he ran a hand through his hair and whispered, "you're killing me here," under his breath.

"Good," I responded, with a fierce look in my eyes.

"I'm just looking out for your safety," he said with a broken look in his eyes. "I went over to your house yesterday but you weren't there."

 _Stay strong, Kara. Don't fall for his puppy dog eyes_ , I thought. "Like I said, I was at a friend's house, Jacob."

He froze at the sound of his name coming from my lips. "What was your friend's name?"

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms over each other. "I don't have to sit here and take this, but to get you off my back, my friend's name was Alice. Well, technically I was hanging out with two friends. Alice and Rosalie."

Jacob seemed to tense up rather than calm down and he started shaking slightly before asking me a one worded question. "Cullen?"

I rolled my eyes again. "Yes. Alice and Rosalie Cullen. They're nice people, you know," I said sharply.

"People? That's what you think?" he said with disgust clear in his voice as he started shaking more and more.

My annoyance with him slowly started fading the more and more he started shaking. Embry, Quil, and Jared noticed his tremors and tried pulling him back and whispering things like "not here," and "control yourself," but they couldn't move him from his spot.

I was beyond worried at this point. Sure, he was being a complete and total Richard and we were at a bit of an impasse, but he was a good guy overall. "Jacob, are you okay?"

He just stared at me and mumbled some things under his breath, but he still wasn't calming down. I stepped up on the lunch table, so I my face would be level with his and put my hands on his shoulders. "Calm down, Jacob. it's fine."

"It's not fine," he snapped. "You were with those…bloodsuckers. You barely even know them. Why the hell would you stay over at someone's house if you barely know them. Why would you–"

He was shaking so badly that he was literally vibrating. It looked like he was about to explode and he was going on a rant which made me want to explode, so I did the only thing I knew that would shut him up for sure…or shut anyone up, really.

 _I kissed him._


End file.
